


Call Me! (Call Me Anytime)

by BluEnby



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Found Family, Friends With Benefits, Honestly if you like Shane this might not be for you, Lori is a bit of a bitch also to be honest, Mentions of Child Trafficking, Multi, Non Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Other, Shane is a dick, Slow Burn, Sophia Peletier Lives, but she is a bitch and Rick loves her so much, characters added as I go, it happens off-screen but it is mentioned as having happened, join me for the ride, no editing we die like men, use of slurs, we add tags as we go because this is a wip and I have no idea where it’s going
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:00:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 12
Words: 52,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22382242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluEnby/pseuds/BluEnby
Summary: Living the highlife by selling her services has been everything that Juliet Valentine has known. Taken in by The Company when she was a young girl, she was shaped into the perfect companion for the rich and famous. She was content with her lot in life. That was until the world decided to end.Left high and dry in Atlanta by The Company, she must find her way out into the world that is vastly different from the one she lived in for her entire life.
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Original Female Character(s), Daryl Dixon/Original Female Character(s)/Rick Grimes, Lori Grimes/Rick Grimes, Lori Grimes/Shane Walsh, Maggie Greene/Glenn Rhee, Rick Grimes/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 104





	1. Show & Tell

The elevator seemed to take forever to get to the top floors of the fancy hotel. The woman sighed and looked in the mirrored wall within the elevator, running her hands through her hair to fix it into just the right place. She inspected her outfit, a tight and short black dress with gaps going almost all the way up each side of the dress – straps holding each side of the dress together. Her heels were a matching black, a strappy pair of dagger stilettos that she had been requested to wear. She double checked her makeup making sure she looked like the perfect image her client had requested. In this dress, almost all of her tattoos were on display. The low cut front of the dress showed a flash of the tattoo that was under breasts; the open side of the dress showed the long intricate tattoo that went from the height of her navel down to her mid thigh. Another intricate tattoo was curled around the front of her shoulder and seemed to move across the top of her shoulder and down her back, although her back was covered by her long hair.

After what felt like an eternity, the elevator finally stopped and she walked out and made her way down the hall. She knew the room number she was looking for. In her right hand she held a small designer clutch purse which held her essentials for when she had finished her job. She got to the door and knocked lightly. It was only a moment before a tall, muscular man opened the door. He had a boyish look to him and he smiled when he saw her.

He turned his head into the room, “It looks like our pre-show entertainment is here boys.” He turned back to wink at her and let her walk into the room.

She walked in and did a spin to take in the ostentatiousness of the room. She saw three other men inside the room, all in various states of dress. The one who had let her in came up behind her, placing his hands on her hips, dipping his head down to sniff her hair.

“This must be the Lady Juliet. You certainly are lovelier in person then you are in your photos.” The one seated in a chair by the window said.

The woman, Juliet, chuckled. “And I must admit,” she said, the traces of a French accent present in her voice, “I have never really thought that a country band I never heard of would be filled with four of the most handsome men I have ever seen.”

The one behind her laughed – it was gruff and she could feel it in his chest as he pressed her closer to him. “You’ll definitely remember us after tonight.” He picked her up with seemingly no effort and tossed her onto the bed. The man that had been on the bed was on her as soon as she hit the sheets. He caressed her face with one of his large palms and undid his pants, unleashing what she could only assume was one of the four beasts that she would have to deal with tonight.

She adjusted herself onto her hands and knees and looked up at the first of the four men she would be with tonight. He was already semi-hard as she brought her head close to his cock; she stuck her tongue out, revealing a piercing, and licked all the way up his shaft before taking him all into her mouth. She kept her eyes looking up at his face as he let out a groan, tilting his head back in pleasure.

“ _Fuck_ – you guys need to get in on this. She is totally worth the cost.”

That seemed to spring the other three into action. She was soon feeling three pairs of hands wandering her body as she continued her work on the first man’s cock. She felt his hands grip into her hair as he began to take the lead, thrusting into her mouth and into her throat. She hollowed her cheeks and brought her hands up to his thighs in case she needed to tap out for air. She moved her tongue around too meet his thrusts as his bandmates because to shift under her dress.

“She’s got too much clothes on. Get that dress off.” One of the bandmembers she hadn’t heard speak said. She felt hands grabbing the top of her dress and pulling it down, popping out her breasts in the process.

“ _Ah shit_. They really have her pierced in all the right places.”

She felt a hand paw at her breast and thought ‘ _They’ve found the nipple piercings then.’_

She felt then slip the dress off down over her hips before she felt one of them taking a handful of her ass. “Tattoos, piercings, _and_ no underwear? Someone’s a naughty girl.” She felt a spank on her left asscheek.

 _‘The dress wasn’t made for someone to wear with underwear.’_ She thought, mentally rolling her eyes.

A squeak of surprise left her throat when she felt herself be lifted up by one of the three bandmembers feeling her up. She felt the fabric slide down her legs before leaving her body completely. The one who was essentially fucking her throat at this point has his pace stutter, giving Juliet the hint that she needed that he was about to tap out. She began to move opposite of his thrust to add extra friction to his thrusts and he was finished quickly. She used his last thrust She used his last thrust to move her mouth as far down his cock as she could, making it easier for her to swallow what he spilled.

He pushed himself away from her and off the bed, “You guys have fun. I gotta go get in the zone.” She saw him tuck himself back into his pants and walk towards the door. She was flipped over onto her back as she heard the door open and close. She saw herself looking up at the three remaining men, each now shirtless and with their dicks out.

‘ _Alright, lets do this.’_ She thought as the remaining band members dove in to get their own taste of her.

Juliet sat on the plush bed after her clients had left. She was wrapped in a fluffy white robe fresh out of the shower. Her long brown hair was damp – a mist of leftover steam escaping the bathroom. She ran her hands through her hair, brushing it out slightly and she began to relax. She was barely a speck on the bed – it was large enough for maybe five people to share and she could barely reach one end of the bed to the other without stretching her whole body out. She had to hand it to those Country Boys; they certainly knew how to treat a lady.

As she lay down into the pillows she felt a vibration on the far left of the bed. Her brand new smartphone, an iPhone 4, showed a stern looking older woman on the screen with a contact name of ‘My Boss’ with a few heart emojis behind it. Smiling, the woman rolled over on the bed and picked up the phone.

“Grandmama! It’s so good to hear from you. How have you been?” The young woman’s voice sounded playful, with a slight hint of a French accent.

“Juliet. I trust your appointment went well.” The old woman’s voice sounded stern over the line.

The young woman, Juliet, rolled her eyes as she rolled onto her stomach, “They were perfectly nice boys. They followed the rules just fine.”

The sound of writing could be heard on the other line, “Good. I would hate to blacklist another client. They won’t be coming back to the hotel after their concert. Their payment has gone though and anything charged to the room is charged to them. Enjoy your night.”

The call clicked off before Juliet could respond. She sighed and dropped her phone back to the far side of the bed rolling to the edge to get up and search the room. She hadn’t had the chance to look for the room service menu when she had first arrived but all that _activity_ built up an appetite.

As she walked around the room the carpet felt soft under her bare feet; she stopped in front of the mini bar and wiggled her toes into the carpet opening the door. Juliet plucked out the chilled white wine and a fancy box of chocolates. Placing the chocolates under her arm she grabbed a wine glass from the counter and made her way back to the bed. She turned on the television with the remote before swapping it for the wine glass. The News sounded in the background as she poured herself a very full glass of the wine.

“The United States and South Korea will impose new sanctions on North Korea in an effort to crackdown on the North’s participation in arms proliferation and increase pressure on Pyongyang after the sinking of a South Korean warship.” The lady on the news spoke; Juliet opened the box of chocolates, popping one in her mouth she moaned at the decadent taste.

Ignoring the news for now, she reached over to the phone on the end table and picked it up and calling the front desk. They picked up on the third ring.

“Yes, Hello.” Juliet spoke after the employee answered with a very standard hotel provided greeting, “I would like to order one of your most expensive meals please. I’m not picky as to which – make it the chefs choice. Thank you very much.” After getting the confirmation from the employee she hung up the phone and began her wait.

Juliet picked up another chocolate to eat as she made her way to lay down on her stomach, holding the wineglass carefully. She went to reach for her phone when there was a sudden change on the news. Juliet looked up as the new anchor stuttered upon getting new information.

“I-I apologize – I have just received word that the unknown illness we have been keeping an eye on has made some strange developments. We go live now to our correspondent, Sasha Maria, on the scene. Sasha?”

The screen split between the news anchor in the studio and a woman standing just outside a hospital. “Yes Piper, I’m here outside of Scared Heart Memorial Hospital. I must warn you and our viewer that this news is fairly disturbing. This hospital is one of many where there have been reported cases of those who have passed away from the infection getting back up again and attacking people. Some people have even appeared to be eaten alive by their attackers. Those that survive the attacks then become infected and are being quarantined.”

A commotion is heard and the woman outside the hospital looks around before army soldiers start to march past her into the hospital. She motions for the camera operator to follow as she walks over to what appears to be a General, “Sir what’s going on? Why is the army marching into a quarantined area?”

She learns her mic over to the General. He looks at her with distain. Juliet stoves another chocolate into her mouth. “Ma’am this is a confidential operation and I would advise you and your camera crew leave the area.”

“Has a state of emergency been called?” She began to follow the General, the camera operator following behind her. They were inside the hospital before they realized.

“Ma’am I suggest you leave well enough alone. You can’t just –“ but before the General could finish, shouting from up front of the troops began. The words couldn’t be heard, but the gunshots were. The camera operator and news woman were shoved off behind a desk as the General turned around and began chaining the doors that lead outside.

“I can’t see what’s going on but it appears to be some sort of conflict has broken out with those who have been infected and the soldiers who have just entered the building.” The woman looked frantic, crouching behind what appeared to be a reception desk. The camera operator switched between keeping the camera on her and what was happening around them. The infected seemed to be swarming the soldiers – some in hospital gowns while others seemed to be in medical scrubs or civilian clothes.

The General picked up a second gun from a fallen soldier and began shooting into the infected. “C’mon you fuckers! How’d you like some of this!”

The woman and the camera operator made a sprint for the doors, both trying to open them – but the chains wouldn’t budge. It seemed to move so fast – they had just turned to try and find another way out but the woman was grabbed by one of the infected, her neck bitten into and torn apart while she screamed. The camera operator wasn’t shown as being attacked, but they dropped the camera. All that could be seen was a handful of the infected crouching around the woman ripping into her flesh as she screamed before the feed went into static.

The news anchor looked to be in shock – a long pause followed the static from the correspondent. “It-it appears we have lost contact with our correspondent on the scene.” She held a hand to her ear, pushing in what Juliet assumes to be an earpiece, “I’m getting word to advice all viewers to lock your doors and to not go outside. Avoid crowded areas and find some type of shelter. It appears that this unknown illness is spreading fast and as the CDC works on helping contain the illness people are advices to not leave their homes and – Who’s that? How did they get into the studio? Oh my god there’s so many of them!” The camera facing the news anchor dropped down and was pointed at the floor before the feed cut and a coloured screen appeared and a harsh beeping tone came over the speakers.

Juliet quickly sat up and placed her wine onto the bedside table switching it for the remote. She began switching the channels, hopping to get something – but all the channels showed the same thing. She felt her breath quicken as she felt close to having a breakdown. A knock on her door made her jump and turn off the television. She made her way over to the door quietly and stood on her tiptoes to look out the peephole. She saw the face of a bellhop who seemed to be tired of his job. She sighed in relief and opened the door.

He pushed his way in without looking at her, “Room Service.” He said in a cheery tone, but he looked like he was more then done with dealing with papered rich snobs. Juliet smiled to herself, understanding his distaste.

“Thank you ChouChou. I’m famished.”she said as she made her way close to the trolly the food was on.

He seemed to just notice that she was there, blushing intensely as he saw her and what she was wearing. The robe itself was comfortable, but a little on the loose side around her chest. He clammed up whatever he was trying to say before quickly giving a small bow and basically running out of the room. Juliet smiles at the distraction before moving to the door and manually locking every lock on the door. She made her way back to the bed and grabbed her phone. She dialled the only person she could think of who would know what to do.

It rang for a moment or two before the person finally picked up. “Grandmama? Something’s going on and I’m scared.”

Silence was on the other line for a moment before a throat was being cleared, “Darling. You know we don’t talk unless you have another client. What do you want.”

Juliet ignored the displeasure in the old woman’s tone. Grandmama, as many of the girls in the same position as Juliet called her, was only interested in the profit that each girl could provide. Juliet was one of the top girls so Grandmama tolerated her when she did something out of the ordinary. “There was an alert on the news. The illness that was being investigated? It’s getting out of hand here in Atlanta. They said to lock the doors and stay inside until it passes.”

There was a pause and then a sigh, “Of course it is you who gets caught up in this mess. I have a high ranking official wanting to book you in two days.” Juliet heard scribbling as Grandmama began to write something down. “Keep your phone on and charged. The room you are in is booked until you check out anyway. Once I have the air clearance to fly a helicopter into the airspace I’ll have you back home for your appointment with the Governor. I will call you when the helicopter is on it’s way.”

Much like before, Juliet wasn’t able to say anything before the line went dead. She dropped the phone to the sheets and rubbed her hands over her face. She would be getting out of here soon. She just had to wait for Grandmama’s call. She could last two days in a room – especially a very nice room.

It was more then two days that Juliet was in the room. She spent the first two days she went through her full day beauty routine – she knew that it would be the best use of her time if she was to attend her appointment as soon as she was the hell out of dodge. The third day she tried calling Grandmama back but the phone line didn’t seem to go through. The fourth day was filled with gunshots she heard from the streets, and she heard a few people making their way out of the hotel – all spoke loudly with their disappointment with this hotel and how the hotel would never have their business again. No one seemed to come back up once they left the level she was on.

The fifth day saw the sky burn with fire. Juliet watched as it dropped from the sky and onto the streets below. It seemed like the whole city was engulfed in flames. She heard the screams and watched as people and cars burned below. Juliet closed the blinds and ran to the bathroom, dry heaving.

By day number six she had given up hope of any rescue coming from Grandmama. The phone lines were definitely down and she couldn’t get any type of contact through. She spent the day listening for anything in the area around her. The hallway was quiet and all she could hear outside was the distant sound of the occasional gunshot. She knew she couldn’t just stay here in the hotel room anymore. If the napalm strike and the clip on the news were any indication the city wasn’t safe and the army couldn’t do anything about it.

She looked around the room for any sort of item that could be used as a weapon and could see anything that she could take without some major effort. She looked down at her heels and figured they would be the best for now. The heel part was actually made of a solid metal – and they weren’t called daggers for nothing.

With a heel in hand she tightened her robe and made her way to the door. She stood on her tiptoes to look out the peephole and saw nothing but a clear hallway. Sterling herself, she unlocked the door and opened it. Looking out the hallway, she saw a a handful of doors that were left open and a flickering light at the very end of the hall near the fire exit.

Juliet kept on the balls of her toes to make less noise as she walked, ready to attack with the heel end of her shoe if someone or something got too close. She looked in the first room and saw a scattered mess left behind if someone who left in a rush. The occupant probably grabbed any valuables they had and dashed out of the hotel. It was good for Juliet; the clothes were thrown all over the room and the suitcase was still on the bed. At the very least, she wouldn’t have to face anything else just yet while she was basically nude.

She ran in and started to look through the various clothing items. It was lucky the person who had been staying here was either a more tomboyish woman or a small man – most of the clothes were various forms of pants and a few nice looking sweaters and undershirts. There wasn’t any underwear, but Juliet was used to going commando every now and again so it wasn’t that bothersome. She grabbed a pair of jeans that where apparently a little ripped for fashions sake and a undershirt followed by a muted yellow sweater. She gathered a few more outfits into the currently empty suitcase and closed it. She made sure she had a grip on her shoe before grabbing the carry on suitcase and made her way into the hall once more.

Now with a way to carry more things at once, she backtracked to her original room. She gathered her belongs that mattered – the purse and it’s contents, her phone, and her charger. She took out the pair of fast flats she had hidden in her purse and put them on – for now they were preferable over her heels and better then going outside barefoot. The dress was left on the floor where it was thrown off her the few days before. It wasn’t practical and it would only hold sentimental value now.

It felt a little bit like she was turning her back on Grandmama and The Company. She paused leaving the room before sighing and turning around and grabbing the dress and shoving it into the front pocket of the suitcase.

She checked out the rest of the open rooms on her floor and found a few other good things. She didn’t find any underwear but she did grab all that she could from each minibar and found a good few packs of tampons – which she emptied the boxes into a pocket of the suitcase and left the empty box behind. She took any unopened mini shampoos and conditioners as well as any unopened bars of soap. By the end of her searching her suitcase now had a slight heft to it; she wasn’t able to find any other type of weapon. She figured at least one person in this hotel would have had a weapon of some kind – it was the United States for Christ’s sake.

Juliet had decided that the stairwell, despite the potential darkness and unseen threats, would be the best choice over taking the elevator down towards the lobby. No matter what happened on her way out, she was determined to live through this. All she had to do was get to the garage – the valet stand would have all the keys to the cars still inside and she could use a car to get out of Atlanta. She would have to work on what she would do once she left the city, but for now she would have to focus on getting out.

Thankfully, the stairwell was clear of any infected. She softly made her way down the many flights of stairs from the top, keeping her shoe at the ready for an attack. It took her what felt like hours, taking the stairs down from the top of the building. She knew carrying luggage up the stairs was hard after a misadventure when she was still in high school and the elevator had been out – it had only been thirteen flights compared to this thirty, but she knew she should be feeling something akin to exhaustion. She kept her eyes peeled for any threats and figured it might have been the fear keeping everything at bay. Seeing what happened to that reporter was a sure fire way to keep alert in this current hell hole.

She reached the bottom and snuck her way over to the exit. She once again had to stand on her tiptoes to see out the window on the door. Looking out, she didn’t see anyone walking around. In fact, it looked like the lobby was deserted. She had heard the bigwig guests leaving several days ago – the staff must have left as well; probably to try to go be with their families during the end times.

 _‘Oh. That thought hurt. Which I had a family to try and run to.’_ Juliet thought, closing her eyes for a moment to ready herself.

Juliet took in a few deep breaths before opening the door and sprinting her way towards the outside. She had a vague idea as to were the valet stand was and she needed to be quick if she wanted to avoid attention of the infected. She burst her way outside the hotel and was met face to face with one of the infected.

The smell was the first thing that hit her, followed quickly by the barely attached jaw making its way toward her for a bite to eat. She screamed, and brought down the heel of her shoe right into the eye of the infected. The infected fell like a sack of bricks, taking the shoe with it. Several more infected that were close by heard her scream and turned towards her, shuffling their way closer. Most of them were by the entrance to the garage, so the plan to get a car was out. Panicking, Juliet turned, using her suitcase and it’s momentum to swing at one of the infected in her way – it collapsed on the ground with a thud and she started sprinting away from the ones that were now following her.

She had never felt more like one of the stupid girls from a horror movie in her life. She did keep an eye on where she was running – avoiding tripping being at the forefront of her mind as she tried to think of another way to get out of this city. The street seemed to be clogged with cars that had crashed in their haste to get out – the traffic jam to end all traffic jams.

Juliet kept running. She was down the street about five blocks from where she started before a truck pulled up out of the corner she was just about to pass. The driver slammed on the breaks and threw open the passenger door.

“Get in!” He yelled.

Juliet didn’t even think twice and jumped into the truck. Once she was in, the driver sped off down the road and out of the city.


	2. 9 to 5

Juliet watched as the shuffling infected faded away as they made their was out of the city. It made her a bit jumpy that they were going down the wrong side of the road to get out of Atlanta, but one look at the proper lane could see that the proper side was filled with bumper to bumper empty cars blocking the exit. The diver, her saviour, seemed to be keeping his eyes solely on the road. She could see in his face that he wanted to say something but either could decide how to say it or was trying to avoid the topic all together. He looked to be around her age. He was Asian and was wearing an open button up with a plain t-shirt underneath and a baseball cap to shield his eyes from the strong sunlight as he drove.

“What is it?” Juliet decided to ask, “If you want me to repay you for saving me feel free to ask me for anything. I’m grateful you helped me get out of the city and once we stop we could get down to business and I’ll be on my way.”

He sputtered and Juliet watched as he turned red from what appeared to be embarrassment. “Uh- no that’s not what I – um – I wanted to ask – was it – did you kill one of those geeks with a shoe?”

Juliet smirked to herself – she was lucky enough to find herself in the company of a decent person in the end of the world. “You saw that, huh?” She slumped back into her chair as they continued their drive, shoving her suitcase into the lower area for her feet and bring her feet up to rest against the dashboard, “I couldn’t find any halfway decent items to protect myself. Those heels were the closest things I could get.”

There was a pause and as Juliet looked over at him, she could see he was trying to think of what to say. “I’m Glenn, by the way. Glenn Rhee.” He moved a hand off the steering wheel and held it in her direction in an offer to shake hands.

Reaching out and accepting his offer she said, “I’m Juliet Valentine.” They brought their hands back to their own sections of the truck.

“Are you French? What were you doing in Atlanta of all places?” Glenn asked. It seemed now the dam holding back what he wanted to say was broken and Juliet was to be flooded with his questions.

“I was doing a job. I was meant to be out of the state several days ago but my ride never came.” She leaned over closed to him in a playful way, “And I am indeed originally French.” He looked over at her from the corner of his eye and appeared to blush once again. Juliet straightened back into her seat with a smile at the effect she had on him, “I haven’t had a set home in quite some time. My work took me all over. What about you, Glenn Rhee?” She rolled his name out playfully, watching him look back between her and road bashfully, “What brought you to Atlanta at the right place at the right time?”

“My group.” He said rubbing the back of his neck, “I’m one of the few of us who knows the city best so they sent me in to see if I could find anything useful. It’s honestly my first time coming back here since I left when everything started to go to shit.”

“Lucky me that you where here when you were.” Juliet paused for a second before willing her head to look over at Glenn, “Wait! You’re group sent you into that hell by yourself? What the hell were they thinking!”

Glenn gave a half smile at Juliet’s concern, “We needed someone to go into the city to see if we could get more food. No one else was local and I know a lot of shortcuts. I used to deliver Pizza across the city. No one really wanted to send me and I didn’t really want to come back but we needed the food.”

Juliet smiles at him and he felt himself get a little light headed at the look she was giving him. Before Glenn realized what was happening Juliet had leaned across the bench of the truck and gave him a kiss on the check.

As he started to turn red yet again, Juliet fell back into her seat and said softly, “You are a good man Glenn Rhee.”

The two sat in silence for the rest the the drive – Glenn a little embarrassed and now out of questions and Juliet had set herself up to get little bit of rest. Juliet didn’t know how long the drive was before Glenn pulled the truck to a stop and it jolted her awake.

She looked over at Glenn and he looked at her apologetically, “Sorry. We’re here.” He then stepped out of the truck and closed the door, leaving her alone inside.

Juliet brought her hands up to her face and smacked herself gently to wake herself up a bit more and to prepare herself for what she has just gotten herself into. She opened the truck door on her side and stepped out, taking the suitcase out once she was on the ground. As soon as she shut the truck door she was crowded against the side of the truck by a tall, muscular man with curly hair.

“Uh, hey.” She said, looking up at the man. He seemed displeased she had made her way into his group’s space.

“Who are you and why are you here.” He asked, but his stern tone left no room for her not to answer.

“I’m Juliet. Glenn helped me escape the city.” She tried to match this man’s intimidation factor, but that wasn’t what she was used to projecting. He didn’t seem likely to accept her charms – she was an unknown and a potential threat.

Glenn quickly rushed to her aid, pushing himself between her and this muscular man. “Shane! Hey man. I got a few good supplies in the back of the truck. Think you could help me bring them to the RV?”

This man, Shane, turned is gaze from Juliet to Glenn. Shane didn’t seem to take to kindly to the attempt to distract from the current matter at hand. “You brought someone unknown to our camp. At best she’s another mouth to feed, at worst she is a threat to the rest of the group. Care to explain your choice on the matter?”

Glenn swallowed hard. He didn’t seem to deal with confrontation well. Behind him, Juliet reached out and grabbed one of his hands for comfort.

“She was alone and running from a group of geeks. I saw her take one down with a shoe before she took off down the road. I couldn’t leave her to be Walker food.” Glenn squeezed back before dropping her hand.

Shane huffed and rubbed a hand over his face before chuckling. “You really took out one of those dead bastards with a shoe?”

“To be fair, it was a dagger stiletto heel and those things and be deadly with certain intent.” Juliet said, looking around Glenn to look at Shane.

“You can stay. But I’m keeping an eye on you to make sure you aren’t a threat to the group.” Shane said as Glenn made his way away from the deescalating conflict, “We don’t have anymore free tents. You’ll have to find someone to bunk up with.”

Juliet nodded, and made her way to the back of the truck with her suitcase to help Glenn. She saw him moving some boxes towards the opening of the back of the truck. She leaned against the tailgate on her elbows and placed her head in her hands and she looked up at Glenn, “So did you really need help? Or was that a way to get muscle man off my case?”

Glenn sputtered a little, looking to see if Shane was still within earshot. “Be careful around Shane – he’s the leader of the group here. He helped us get away from the highway when the shit that hit the fan in the city started to spill out into the highway were people were hoping to get to a safe zone.” He lifted another box and moved it closer to the others so they would be easier to carry off the truck, “As for the help, I could honestly make more then one trip but that puts extra work when I could be doing something else to help camp.”

Juliet adjusted the suitcase in her grip and went to grab one of the boxes of supplies, “How about I help you and you let me bunk with you?” She watched Glenn go through the same process of emotions from when she offered him a quickly for saving her life, “We’re both adults. I’m sure we could handle a little co-ed sleeping arrangement.”

“I’m already bunking with T-Dog.” Glenn blurted out. He then proceeded to drop his head into his hands and let out a frustrated groan.

“Then we can ask T-Dog if he doesn’t mind sharing with another person.” Juliet smiled, picking up a small stack of the boxes, “Now where do I bring these?” Glenn groaned again, hopping down to join her in bringing the rest of the supplies to storage.

As it turned out, T-Dog was as mature as Juliet on the subject of co-ed sleeping arrangements. Which is to say, he poked fun at Glenn for about five minutes before agreeing that it wouldn’t be a problem. So at least the problem of who she would be staying with wasn’t going to be a problem anymore. Glenn left to go help Dale and Jim repair the RV and T-Dog showed her to the tent. She ducked in and dropped off the suitcase before looking around the camp to see if there was anything she could help with.

Unfortunately, Juliet never spent a day camping in her life. She had no idea what would need to be done or where to even start. She saw a few families scattered about – and as she looked around, taking in the camp, she saw a few side eyes in her direction. Juliet understood. As Shane said, she was new and unknown. She wrapped her arms around her middle as she tried to figure out her best course of action. It wasn’t until the woman was upon her did Juliet realize someone was moving towards her.

“Hey, you’re Juliet right? Shane just told me you got here. I’m Lori.” Lori stuck her hand out for a handshake and Juliet accepted it on autopilot in her shock. Lori pointed over to four children sitting at a picnic table working away at some books and paper. “That boy over there with the brown hair is my boy Carl. The girl next to him is Sophia, Carol’s daughter. The other two are Morales’ children Eliza and Louis. We’re making sure to keep they up on their schooling so they don’t fall behind when this all blows over.” Lori smiled at her, hope clear on her face, “you wouldn’t happen to have been a teacher, would you? We could really use someone with those skills to help the kids with learning.”

“My -uh. My skill set is a little far removed from childcare.” Juliet looked at Lori’s honest face before looking away – for the first time feeling a bit of shame for the profession that she had been inducted in to. “I honestly never had to do anything like this before… everything.”

Lori’s face turned to a small look of pity and for a second Juliet imagined that the soft gaze and gentle hand on her shoulder could have been the touch of her own mother if Juliet had the chance to have one. “That’s fine dear. You’ll help out with all the women’s work we have. Extra hands will help get everything done faster.”

Lori lead her down to the water’s edge in the quarry where a few of the women were gathered. It looked to Juliet like they were just sitting around on the rock and chatting. When they got closer, Lori started to introduce her to the other women.

“Hey girls! This is Juliet, she just arrived at camp and I figured we could show her the ropes.” Juliet never felt more like like the new kid in class. “That’s Andrea and Amy, they’re sisters who joined the group when Dale showed up in the RV. That’s Jacquie That’s Jacqui, she joined us when we escaped from the highway. And here is Carol – Sophia’s mom.” Lori sat down next to a wicker basket and indicated for Juliet to do the same.

Juliet sat next to the closest basket, in between Jacqui and Carol and nodded a greeting.

It took a few hours before they were done washing all of the clothes that were in the baskets. Juliet felt like she caused more harm then help with how long it took but the girls reassured her that it would have been a longer day down by the water if she hadn’t done her part.

Feeling accomplished in the part she played to help the group thrive, she eagerly volunteered to help pin up the wet clothes so they could dry why half of the group split off to start cooking. She was left with Andrea and Amy – any talk by the water disappearing with the two of them being more focused on taking care of each other then keeping up small talk with the new addition to the group.

It had only been a few minutes into hanging the laundry when Juliet bent over to pick pick up something in the basket to hang on the clothing line that she was met with a hard slap on her ass. She jumped up and swung behind her as hard as she could with her open palm and smacked the offender straight in his face.

He was tall and stocky, bald with a bit of stubble surrounding his lower jaw. She watched him stumble back and shake his head like he was disoriented.

“Merle!” A new voice said, and a new man appeared. He wasn’t as stocky as this ‘Merle’ was, but he was built in a similar manner. He wasn’t muscular from all then men she met who spent most of their time in the gym – it was a natural musculature from self sustaining work. The new man glared at both this Merle and her, as if she was the one to smack an unsuspecting ass.

“What? I can’t welcome a new piece of ass into camp?” Merle said, holding the side of his head Juliet hit tilting it a bit to the side.

“Touch me again without my permission and I’m prepared to do worse.” Juliet responded, glaring back at the pair.

“French bitch.” Merle said before moving to make a step towards Juliet.

The new man that showed up behind Merle got in front of him before he could and began to push Merle away. There was no apology, only the sounds of complaints that got further away as Merle was brought somewhere by his mystery companion.

Andrea scoffed in disgust. “Fucking Dixon’s. Sorry you had to meet them like that. I would have pointed them out to you at a distance and told you to keep away from them but Merle’s never been good at not being an asshole.” Andrea clipped the last piece of the shirt she was holding and moved closer to Juliet, “He didn’t hurt you did he?”

“No. Though I hope I fucked up his equilibrium for the new few hours so he won’t be a hassle to anyone and learn his lesson about putting his hands where they don’t belong.” Juliet said, giving Andrea a light smile before they got back to work.

When they finished hanging the clothes Lori told them they had the next few hours to themselves until dinner was ready. Andrea and Amy went off towards their own tent – content on being by themselves. That left Juliet to figure out what to do in her downtime. She went back to the tent she shared with Glenn and T-Dog to find Glenn laying down and reading a book. She waved and smiled politely at him as she dug into her bag to grab her phone. She ducked out of the tent before Glenn could work up the nerve to say anything and made her way back down to the water. Sitting down on one of the larger rocks she brought her phone up and tried to dial through any interference.

She tried a few times with no luck. Walking over to a taller rock, she climbed it to try and get a better connection. Juliet didn’t know why she was trying, it didn’t work in the hotel so she doesn’t know why it would work now. Still, she had to try. She was at the top of the rock when she finally was able to get the call to go through. Juliet raised a hand in the air and made an excited noise as she waited for someone to pick up.

It went straight to voicemail.

Juliet cursed before the machine made the recording beep. “Grandmama! You didn’t contact me and I wasn’t able to get in touch with you from the hotel. I don’t know what’s going on but I had to leave the hotel. I’m safe if that helps - I’m not sure what I could say for a location, but if this ever ends and we get back to normal I’ll find you, okay?”

Juliet ended the call and turned off the phone, effectively cutting herself off from The Company. She felt a wave of relief wash over her as she took a deep breath and put the phone in her pocket. She didn’t have to do anything they said anymore. She could finally just exist as her own person.

“What are you doin’?”

The voice startled her and she slipped down the ramp of the rock, “Ah fucking shit!” She shouted as she fell. Before she hit the ground she felt a pair of arms stop her from hitting the ground. The arms helped place her back upright, and when she caught her bearings, she realized that the arms that caught her were that of the other Dixon.

He stepped away as soon as she was standing on her own. She glared at him for a moment before speaking. “What do you want? The asscheek your brother didn’t slap?”

His face twisted from a neutral look to one of anger fairly quickly, but he seemed to keep some of it inside. It looked like he was ready to explode. “Actually wanted to tell you I’ll make sure he don’t do it again. He runs his mouth but isn’t okay what he did.”

Juliet huffs at his weird attempt at an apology for a brother that won’t apologize for himself. “It is not like I haven’t been slapped there before.” She notices the anger fade slightly before a red starts to creep onto his face, “I’m just used to people paying for it first.” She said, more under her breath to herself then to him. She saw his face get redder then suddenly he turned away from her and began the walk back to camp.

Juliet cursed herself – that last bit wasn’t meant to slip out. She didn’t want the group to know what she used to do before all this happened. Her outfit said girl-next-door – especially with the yellow sweater that was honestly took big for her. It didn’t say I’m-a-150,000-dollar-whore. God, she hoped he would at least avoid mentioning it to Merle. That asshole would probably use it as an excuse to proposition her in front of the whole camp. She could probably deal with the aftermath – Glenn already knows she at least offered him some for saving her so he at the very least doesn’t see her as a total goody-goody. But after just feeling the relief of disconnecting totally from her old life would be crushed into the dust if it got out.

She stayed out on the rocks for a little longer, looking up at the sky and listening to the sounds of nature. Juliet didn’t think she had gone this long away from the noise of civilization. Even when she went on yachts with her clients there had still been the sound of the party on the yacht. She stood up after a good few moments passed so it wouldn’t look like her and Merle’s brother were there for anything together.

Dinner was more of an interrogation then chatting and eating around a fire.

“So what did you do before all this happened Juliet?” Shane asked, sitting across the fire from her. He poked at the embers aimlessly – an attempt to put her at ease. He wasn’t asking to intimidate her, he just wanted to get to know her.

Juliet hummed in response – more to fill the empty air and think of something other then the truth. “I- uh. I was a student.” She made accidental eye contact with Merle’s brother where she saw the look of disbelief before he huffed and dug back into his stew.

Shane looked up from the embers and over to her. She felt his eyes lock on as if she knew she was lying. “Where’d you go to school?”

“Oh different places.” She waved her hand dismissively. Juliet didn’t know if was better to be seen as a helpless rich girl over a expensive call girl but at this point she would rather be helpless and rich then to be assumed she was open for service. “I was doing some terms abroad which is how I ended up here.”

He seemed to accept that answer for now. He moved back from poking the embers and went to finish his bowl of stew. His questions seemed to open up the urge to know her in others.

“Where is your family? Do you know if they’re okay?” Lori asked, a soft motherly tone in her voice.

Juliet shrugged, “They’ve been gone for a long while. They weren’t in my life even before I started to go abroad.” She looked up from her stew and caught a good few looks from a majority of the group seemed to pity her.

She stood up, her stew basically finished, and excused herself. She made her way to the tent she was going to share with T-Dog and Glenn but Dale stopped her on his way to the fire.

“There’s some extra blankets and pillows in the RV, and room too.” He said to her softly as he placed a hand on her arm.

She smiled at him – if Juliet thought Lori gave off energy that gave her the feeling of missing a mother she never had, Dale gave her the energy of what a father could have been like. “I’ll take a blanket and pillow. I’ll be fine in the tent though. I trust Glenn and T.”

Dale looked at her for a moment before nodding and giving her a friendly smile. “If you ever change your mind, there is room in the RV.”

Juliet nodded and decided that it was time to get comfy and go to bed.

On her way into the tent, blanket and pillow in hand, she was greeted by the sight of Glenn and T-Dog making sure there was a space for her. Thanking them both, she made her way to the far end of the tent where she could lay horizontal to their vertical. She wrapped herself up into a blanket burrito and went to sleep.

The next week or so found Juliet going through a routine in camp. She would do any work Lori assigned her and help the other women in the camp with the chores where she could. Any free time she had would either be spent talking with Dale and helping keep watch or hanging out with Glenn when he wasn’t gone on runs into the city. Her friendship with Glenn was something she felt was going to happen from the moment he saved her and expected nothing in return; Dale was quickly becoming a father figure in whatever kind of situation this could be called. She knew she had issues, especially with losing her parents, and Dale filled the void that her own parents left.

Shane was another story. He seemed to watch her almost nonstop. Like he was waiting for something to happen – like he was waiting for her to slip up so she would be kicked out of camp. The more he watched her the more she watched him. She saw him getting closer and closer with Lori. Juliet knew the two of them had a past. She couldn’t blame Lori for going for the leader of the group to fill the father role for Carl. Shane would do everything he could to make sure both Lori and Carl were as safe as could be.

Merle’s brother, Daryl, never did tell her his name. Juliet learned it one day when she was talking with Glenn. Both of them were jerks but they brought in food for the whole camp; they earned their place here and Daryl kept Merle in line enough to stop forty percent of Merle’s bullshit.

Daryl did keep his word and Merle never touched any of the girls inappropriately again – but it didn’t stop him from vulgarly harassing from a distance. Daryl did seem to be the one to keep Merle from outright destroying the camp with his antics but Juliet kept herself away from them since her first encounter. It wasn’t hard to avoid them, they were usually gone hunting or on the occasional run to give Glenn a hand.

Juliet woke up to an empty tent on occasion, Glenn and T-Dog often got up and about early together to go on runs. Shane decided that the buddy system when leaving camp was something we needed to take seriously as a group. It never felt more like what Juliet would think summer camp would have been like then anything – despite how well it seemed to work.

Thinking herself alone to be alone for a while Juliet opened her suitcase to change into a fresher set of clothes. She had changed a few times when Glenn and T-Dog were gone and she was getting down to her last pair of clean clothes. Most of the outfits she had been able to take from the hotel were undershirts, jeans, and sweaters that were too large on her. She felt bad for whoever had left the designer clothing behind – it was somewhat sturdy in make and soft to the touch. Juliet didn’t know what she would have done if she didn’t have the small fraction of ‘high class’ that she did now.

She concluded that she would have to add doing her own laundry today as she removed her sweater and undershirt. Setting them aside, she reached over into the suitcase to grab the new undershirt and sweater – not hearing the zipper as the door to the tent was opened.

“Hey Juliet I was wondering – Oh my god.”

Juliet turned her head to see Glenn sticking his head into the tent. He seemed shell shocked for a second, and she saw his eyes frozen, looking in the direction of her but not making any eye contact.

“Glenn?” Juliet asked, looking at him, turning herself to semi face him knowing he was distressed but not realizing as to why, “What do you want?”

He started to stammer, his face growing redder and redder as he quickly moved his eyes anywhere but on her. With a quick cry of an apology he retreated from the tent, quickly doing the zipper up. Juliet heard his footsteps retreating quickly to somewhere else in camp. It wasn’t until she reached to put on her new undershirt did she realize exactly why Glenn bolted.

Nudity wasn’t a new concept for Juliet, especially nudity in from of other people. When she went to get a basket for her laundry she would have to see if she could find Glenn to try and talk to him. The sooner the situation was was solved the better. She finished dressing and made her way outside of the tent, looking around to see to see if she could spot Glenn anywhere. Coming up empty, she made her way over to the RV to check in with Dale.

“Dale? Have you seen Glenn?” Juliet called up to the top of the RV.

Dale looked over the ledge at her, “I saw him make a run for one of the trucks and head out for a run. I’d say he’ll be back soon I didn’t see anyone with him.”

Juliet nodded and turned around. “Thanks Dale.” She said as she made her way over to the other women of the group.

Carol smiled meekly at her upon her approach. Lori wasn’t nearby but Juliet figured she was probably around here somewhere. Andrea and Amy were still distant and Jacqui seemed to favour Andrea for a speaking companion so Juliet made due with speaking to just Carol. She was a sweet woman – Juliet honestly liked her more then she did Lori – and Juliet was starting to become more protective of Carol. They all noticed how Ed was and it made Juliet’s blood boil.

“We just finished up dividing the tasks for today.” Carol leaned over and told her softly, “You drew the short straw today. Berry picking.” Carol elbowed her softly, a small smile on her face.

Juliet smiled back echoing with a soft nudge of her own. “And what chore did you get? Must be more exciting then going into the bushes.”

“I’m on laundry. And cooking after that.” Juliet chuckles as Carol seemed a little lost in thought, most likely thinking of what she could make with the food they had on hand. “Oh! Juliet, you you have anything that needs to be washed? I’ll add it to my pile since you’ll miss the washing today.”

Juliet placed a hand softly on Carol, “Thank you – it’s just in my tent. I’ll go get-” 

“Oh don’t bother.” Carol said, waving her off, “I’ll drop by on my way down to the lake and pick it up. You go start picking those berries.”

With minor giggling and a wave, Juliet picked up the large metal bucket that the women had been using for foraging in the woods and set off. Nobody ever went in too far, the buddy system for this particular task was keeping in sight of Dale. She quickly set herself to work – there were plenty of bushes nearby. It was a bunch of blackberries and raspberries – picking them gave her a sort of mindless work. It was easy to pick them and think about something else.

She went to look up, to say something to Dale, but saw that she couldn’t see the RV anymore.

“Shit.”


	3. Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off

Juliet had to curse her stupidity. She couldn’t believe she had walked herself away from camp and into the forest. Her sense of direction was below average at best – not to mention she had never really set foot out into any kind of wilderness before. Juliet knew that if she went the wrong direction she would be lost in the woods – something bad even before the end of the world. Now she had to worry about Walkers as well as any type of wild animal and exposure.

At least she had a full bucket of berries to eat if she needed to.

She placed a hand on her forehead in an attempt to focus on what to do. The berry bushes were all over, so she couldn’t follow a trail of them back towards camp. The idea of retracing her steps crossed her mind; but she would never be able to find them. She had no clue how to find tracks, let alone her own prints in the dirt. The flats she had been using as shoes barely left any mark in the dirt that she could see. Waiting for someone from camp to come find her was a thought she had before crushing it on the spot. Camp would send a tracker, which meant getting help from the Dixon’s. Daryl seemed okay enough but Merle was the one who had slapped her ass a few weeks prior.

Turning herself in a direction Juliet made a decision. She would just walk forward and she would find herself somewhere. Hopefully that somewhere would be back at camp. If the bushes stopped and she wasn’t near camp she would turn back.

Juliet didn’t know how long she had been walking, but it felt like more of a distance then she was used to. It might have been the extra weight of the berry bucket that had her feeling slightly more exhausted then usual. Spotting a larger rock, she made her over to sit down for a moment for a rest. Juliet placed the bucket down next to the rock as she sat down. She hadn’t brought anything with her thinking she wasn’t going to be going the far into the forest.

A twig snapping and some rustling alerted her to something coming towards her from her right. Juliet turned towards the noise, eyes darting around to look around for something she could use to defend herself. She found nothing other then the bucket. Grabbing it up and readying it for a swing she got into a form of a stance and waited for whatever was heading towards her showed itself.

It felt like ages before whatever it was showed itself. Juliet took a deep breath and prepared to swing but the only thing that came out of the bushes was a fairly fat squirrel.

Juliet sighed with relief. “You almost got squished mon petit bijou. Run along before something happens to either of us.”

The squirrel seemed to look at her for a moment before diving back into the brush. Juliet hummed to herself and put the bucket back onto the ground. She reached one of her hands up to tuck some of her hair behind her ear when a voice spoke up behind her.

“What are you doin’ out here Frog?”

Any tension Juliet had left after the squirrel turned out to be nothing sprung into action as she swung out behind her blindly. Daryl dodged her easily gripping the arm she swung out with before it could hit him.

“I’ve seen that move before and I don’t want to experience it, thanks.” He said, looking between her face and her open palm that had been heading to strike him.

Juliet looked away from him, a bit sheepish. “Sorry about that.” She flexed her hand and he let go when he figured she wouldn’t swing at him again. “About almost hitting you, that is. I’m not sorry I hit Merle.”

“Merle deserved it that time. Hittin’ women ain’t right.” He crossed his arms and she felt him eyeing her up. Juliet tried to ignore him and grabbed the bucket up. “Why’d you lie about being a student?”

Juliet tensed up for a second. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Do you know the way back to camp?” She said, picking a direction and starting to walk away, not wanting to have this conversation.

“Shane probably picked up on it you know. Bastard used to be a cop. Bet he could spot the same ticks I did.” He said, staying where he stood. “That ain’t the way back to camp.”

Juliet huffed, turning back to Daryl. “What are you going to do? I don’t answer your question so you keep me lost in the woods?”

“If the deal is you tell me why you lied and I show you back to camp I think It’s a pretty good deal. We both get what we want.” Daryl said, adjusting his crossbow onto his shoulder, “What I think, is that you were some kinda fancy rich bitch. Only trouble you dealt with is taking the silver spoon out’ your ass long enough to eat with it.”

“That’s unfair. You don’t even know me.” Juliet shot back.

“Seemed to know you well enough for you to think I was the trash under your shoes a few weeks ago.” Daryl said as he took a step forward and pointed at her, as if to emphasize his point.

Juliet closed her eyes and rubbed her face with her free hand. “You’re right. I judged you on the actions of your brother, and that wasn’t fair of me.” She walked back over to Daryl and sat on the rock she was on before. “I don’t want what I used to do known to the camp. I _know_ people their would use it as an excuse to treat me differently – especially with how the world seems to be now.” Juliet watched him shift from one foot to the other and patted the part of the rock she wasn’t sitting on. “You should probably sit down. Might as well act like we’re going to be the best of buds while I reveal to you what could be my life’s story.”

He scoffed, but sat down regardless.

“I worked for a company that provided a _specialized_ service for anyone who was willing to pay the price.” She paused for a moment, looking at his face to see if she could get a read on him. His face seemed fairly neutral, so she continued. “I got a small percentage of the profit that I brought in from various clients but I never had time to myself. The only time I had off was when they would make me look a certain way for a client or have time set so I could heal.” She sighed, tilting her head back, “I guess everything I’d done for my job is meaningless now. Coming to camp – where no one knew what I did before – was a whole new freedom I never had.” She brought her hands up to fiddle with some of the long strands of her hair. She glanced over at Daryl and saw in processing the information she just dumped onto him. He didn’t seem like he would try and throw holy water at her and call for the Lord’s help in releasing her from her sinner’s flesh so she took that as a win. “And that’s all you’re getting. I probably have a bus load of trauma that you won’t get to know about until you are at least a level 58 friend.”

“So what your sayin’,” Daryl said after a moment’s pause, “Is that you were some kind of fancy whore.”

Juliet snorted out a laugh and lightly pushed Daryl on the shoulder. “You’ve got me all figured out _now_ , cowboy.” They sat in silence for a brief moment, taking in the quiet around them. Juliet turned her head towards Daryl, “So what did you do before all this happened?”

“What’s it matter to you?” He said, slightly defensive.

Juliet nudged him playfully with her elbow. “I showed you mine – you might as well show me yours.”

Daryl grunted, followed by a long silence. Juliet didn’t know if he was ever going to reply or not, tempted to ask her way back to camp before he spoke. “Didn’t do nothin’. Traveled with Merle – drifted, I guess.”

“Definitely sounds a lot better then getting fucked for money.” Juliet joked, “I think we’ve really bonded now. I can see our relationship going good places.”

He pushed her lightly. “Stop.”

Juliet smirked, running a hand through her hair. “I mean it. Now that the standoff Daryl Dixon has expressed interest I’ve become needy and unstable and I want to know where this relationship is going.”

He grunted again, shifting away from her slightly. He brought his crossbow off his shoulder and began to do something to it with his hands. What he was doing escaped Juliet – she didn’t know anything about weapons, let alone one as specific as a crossbow. She did notice his hands and how deftly he moved his fingers to the task.

A few moments passed as she did whatever he was doing; Juliet acutely aware of his fingers. She felt a stirring deep in her and she tried to mentally count the days back to when she last satisfied her libido. It was probably the longest she’d gone since she actively became one of the Girls for The Company. Quitting cold turkey might end up being embarrassing for her later down the road with the group.

Juliet turned a little more so she was facing Daryl. “Are you going to show me back to camp now? Unless - now that you know what I used to do for a living you want to take me for a test drive?”

He turned his head quickly towards her and she saw a mix of emotions cross his face, all of them hard to determine. Juliet kept her eyes locked onto his, slightly biting her bottom lip and giving him a small smile.

“The hell you just say?” Daryl snapped, standing up and moving away from her.

“You scratch my back and I scratch yours. Except in this case the only itch we’ll be scratching is a little bit south of the back.” She said, casually leaning back onto her hands.

“Why you asking me?” Daryl said angrily.

The glare Juliet received didn’t stop her from her reply. “Most of the people in camp are married, way to into Jesus, or a little to straight to fool around with. That leaves you, Glenn, and Shane. Shane’s getting with Lori even though they are both trying to hide it and Glenn is a little to timid for my liking.” She paused, taking the time to lean forward to place her elbows on her knees. “When he saved me I asked what he wanted in return and offered to let him rail me as thanks. He didn’t take it well.”

Daryl chuckled lightly, “No shit.”

“He almost had a stroke. Same thing happened this morning when he barged in the tent when I was changing and got a full on look at the girls.” Juliet moved her hands to emphasize her chest and did a little shimmy. “We don’t even have to talk to each other if you don’t want to. I only ask you don’t tell Merle or anyone else. I like having people treat me like a human and not just a piece of ass and knowing Merle he’d probably yell it out to the whole camp.”

Daryl seemed to think about it for a moment, taking the time to size her up. She wiggled her eyebrows at him as he took his time telling her his answer. It didn’t seem to amuse him much but she did catch a slight uptick on one corner of his mouth.

“Fine.” He grunted out, “Seems a fair enough trade.”

Juliet let out a sly grin. “So, are we planning on doing it here or later? I could turn around so you could –“ she tried to say, but was cut off by Daryl moving closer, crowding her space and lifting her out of her sitting position.

He spun her around and pressed her up against the nearest tree. Juliet felt her face rub against the bark as he closed in behind her. One of his hands reached around and went up into her sweater, pawing at one of her breasts. His other hand traveled down and into her jeans, making quick work at rubbing her clit. She gasped and lifted her hands up onto the tree to brace herself.

Daryl leaned in and she could feel his breath on her ear. “You been planning this? Preparing for a quick fuck in the woods by not wearing underwear?”

She held in a whimper as he continued his ministrations on her nether regions. “I- ah. I didn’t have any when - when the apocalypse started.”

“Can’t say I’m complainin’.” His hand dipped further back, his fingers making their way up and inside her. Juliet tilted her head back and released a high-pitched cry as she felt her hips writhe in the palm of his hand. She felt the hand exploring her breasts go to tweak a nipple before he stopped and used the whole hand to grip her breast. “You got your _nipples_ pierced?” He asked astonished.

Juliet wiggled in his grasp.. “Yeah, And I have some pretty sweet – ah! – pretty sweet tattoos. Mind sticking it in me already?” She pressed back into his crotch with her ass, feeling a glimpse of what she was soon to get a ride from.

“You walk around with a rubber on you at all times?” He mocked, grinding against her from behind causing her to whimper.

“Unless you have STDs feel free to go ahead – _ah tabernak_!” Daryl kept teasing her as she tried to speak, her hips bucking between the tree and him grinding behind her. “Fancy whores have fancy solutions.”

Daryl did one final harsh grind against her before she felt him take a step back. His hands left what they were doing and in one quick motion her jeans were down around her knees. Juliet heard him undoing his belt and before she could even think about saying anything else he pushed himself inside her at one of the slowest paces she’d ever felt. She let out a moan and gripped at the tree; it might have only been a few seconds before he bottomed out and was fully inside her but to Juliet it was as if the feeling of him slowly inching his way inside took an eternity.

“You sure you’re a whore? Don’t feel like it.” Daryl said leaning into her, sliding his hands down towards her hips and gripping them as he started to slowly move himself back out.

Juliet sucked in a breath at his teasing, trying to follow him but was stuck in place by his hands. “If you don’t start fucking me hard and fast right now I’m going to loose my mind.”

Daryl huffed, but kept drawing himself back until he was almost all the was out of her. He took a moment to take a look at her writhing under his touch. With a smirk he brought a hand from her hips to lightly smack at her ass before thrusting in as hard as he could. Daryl heard the air escape from her lungs as he picked up the pace; the hand he used to smack her he brought back around to her front to brush at her clit with each thrust. This turned her breathless moans into a high pitched squeals which she tried to quiet by bringing up one of her hands to cover her mouth.

Juliet was surprised by her orgasm – it seemed to come from nowhere and hit her like a semi truck. She wasn’t able to inform Daryl, and he just kept up his pace – fucking her through it. Her arms reached out and wrapped around the tree as best as they could so she could try and have some form of stability; Juliet could feel her body going limp and she would not be caught dead falling to the ground in this situation.

She was basically deadweight after that; Daryl’s thrusting continues for a minute after before she felt him stutter the steady rhythm followed by a warm sensation filling her. He pulled out in one swift motion – Juliet still clung to the tree as she heard him starting to do up his belt again.

“We should be getting you back to camp now.” He grunted out.

Juliet heard him start to walk away, “Just give me a minute -– _Crisse_! I feel like jell-o and I need to make sure your cum doesn’t ruin my pants. I still don’t have any underwear to work as a barrier and I can feel a little bit leaking out.” She used what arm strength she had left and She used what arm strength she had left and lifted herself into something closer to standing then she already was. Using one arm to brace herself, she rolled up the sleeve on her other arm and bit and brought that hand down to her nether regions and swiped up any of the cum that had been leaking out. She brought her hand up to her mouth without even thinking and licked it all off her fingers in one go.

She heard Daryl take in a sharp intake of breath through his teeth before she realized what she was doing. Juliet looked over at him and he seemed transfixed on her, looking at her but not meeting her eyes. Smirking she jumped up a bit to bring her pants up almost as quickly as he had pulled them down; she saw him shake his head, almost like he was breaking out of a spell.

“Alright – lead the way _mon gros._ I have berries I have to get back to camp.” Juliet said as she walked over to the bucket she had placed on the ground in what felt like ages ago. Daryl nodded, and turned to walk away – Juliet walked a little faster to catch up to him, staying a little bit behind as he lead the way.

Glenn showed back up to camp just as the sun was setting. Juliet was with the other women who had been cooking up what the camp would be eating for dinner – Carol had made Juliet stick close by when she had gotten back from picking berries; apparently Shane had been close to sending out a search party a little before she had been brought back by Daryl and wanted someone to keep an eye on her.

Juliet wasn’t much for cooking – that was clear a few weeks ago when they tried to have her make something for the whole camp and the ‘French cuisine’ they had all expected her to make turned out more burnt then actual food. So Juliet sat by the fire while Carol and Jacqui made dinner; Sophia and Carl day with her – both wanting to escape the schoolwork they had been given by their parents in favour of learning some French.

Sophia caught on quickly turning to Carl. “Comment tu t'appelles?”

“Je maple Carl.” Carl replied after a moment of confusion.

“ _Je ma’appelle Carl._ ” Juliet corrected, “You’re getting closer – the pronunciation just needs a little work.”

Carl frowned a little and Sophia perked up a bit. “Ça va, Carl?”

Carl looked up between Juliet and Sophia; Juliet gave him an encouraging nod. “Ça va.”

Juliet clapped and gave both of them a thumbs up. “It took my English friends in school a lot longer to get to where you’ve gotten today – _Magnifique_ work!”

Sophia and Carl were quick to start chattering back and forth with the little bit of conversation that Juliet was able to teach them before the sound of a vehicle pulling up to camp alerted everyone to Glenn’s return. Juliet didn’t want to rush up to him in front of everyone in camp and talk to him about what happened this morning.

As the supplies were unloaded, Juliet noticed that Glenn seemed to be avoiding her as much as he possibly could. Every time Juliet tried to find a moment to talk to him there was always something happening to cause the conversation to not happen. When night approached Juliet figured that she could at least corner Glenn inside the tent. She waited up in the night for him to turn in himself but he didn’t show up.

This avoidance happened over the next two days before she finally had enough. Juliet found herself approaching Dale around lunch time after Glenn had gone out on another run. She climbed on top of the RV under the pretence of bringing him some lunch.

“Thank you Juliet.” Dale said as he accepted the lunch. “I’ve noticed you and Glenn haven’t been that close the past few days.”

“Yeah. I’m sure the whole camp has noticed at this point.” Juliet sighed, sitting down on the roof of the RV next to Dale in his lawn chair.

“What happened?” Dale asked as he kept his vision away from her, looking around at the perimeter of the camp.

“Nothing much. I don’t think.” Juliet paused again – bringing her legs up and hugging then to her chest, laying her head on them. “Do you still have a spot in the RV? I think it might be best if I move out of Glenn’s tent.”

Dale places a hand on Juliet’s shoulder and squeezed lightly. “Of course. You’ve got a spot in the RV whenever you want it.”

“Thanks Dale.” Juliet said, letting Dale get back to his watch.


	4. Bad Moon Rising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Just a warning if you haven’t watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Amy and Juliet discuss the show so I guess I mild spoiler warning? The show came out like 20+ years ago now but I figured I should probably put a mild spoiler warning.

The next few weeks found Juliet living out of the RV with Dale, Andrea, and Amy. After packing everything she owned in the tent into her suitcase she carried it into the RV and set herself up in the passenger seat that doubled as a reclining chair. Despite the new living arrangements, Andrea seemed to want to be just as distant as she was being before. Amy, at the very least, attempted to be civil. Amy, closer to Juliet in age, tried to interact with her a little more then she had been doing before. It was mainly about things that Amy had found fun before everything went to shit but Juliet tried to understand. Amy would talk at length about the different things she knew about supernatural creatures; It amazed Juliet that someone so deep in the Bible Belt could be interested in the paranormal and the supernatural.

Amy spent most of her conversations with Juliet describing the entire series run of _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_.

Juliet had never spent much casual time with other women who weren’t employed by The Company. Her free time had always been limited as she was either being trained or sleeping. The clients didn’t need to know any personal information – they would always just talk about themselves or just need her somewhere to look pretty if they needed her to do anything at all. Not all clients required the employees of The Company to participate in the foreplay of the evening.

Glenn was still avoiding Juliet like he had some kind of disease. She didn’t know why he kept avoiding her but if she had to guess it would be because he was exactly as experienced as Juliet had thought him to be – which was barely at all. She had thought their friendship promising and it was killing her to have to wait for him to get through whatever was going on with him.

Daryl was a whole other story. Ever since their deal in the woods, they would sneak around without anyone noticing. It was never as frequently as Shane and Lori, but they still managed to go off somewhere no one would find them for a quick few moments before going their separate ways. Juliet learned that Daryl was a little aggressive in the things that he did – he took control and manhandled her; he made sure that she knew who was in charge.

Despite Glenn’s frequent runs and both Daryl and Merle hunting for the groups food they had begun to run low on just about everything.

“We should have a group go into the city with Glenn. The more people who go in could bring more supplies back.” Shane suggested one night while they sat around a campfire.

Glenn, who was as far away from Juliet as he could be but still within the circle around the fire looked at Shane like he just announced that he had been bitten by a infected. “With all due respect Shane – fuck no.”

“And while not?” Shane asked, looking towards Glenn, “We are getting real low on supplies. You going alone has worked for a bit but we need to keep up with our stock. More people means more supplies which means less runs into the city.”

Glenn seemed to back down slightly, now under the direct stare from Shane. “I get in and get out quickly – I don’t get noticed because I can sneak around them when I only have myself. A group will change that.”

Shane looks around at those around the fire. “We have a Walkie that can connect to the CB we have here in camp. You take that with you – if you run into trouble you can get a hold of us.” Shane took a pause as he met each of the people in the circle in the eye, “If you volunteer, you need to know the risks. But a bigger group could help with the safety of the runs.”

Glenn looked away defeated.

“Alright. Then it’s settled. Take the night to think over if you want to go on the run. You’ll leave first thing in the morning. Take the church van – it’ll hold more people.” And with that Shane stood up from the fire and left back to his tent.

Everyone else followed soon after – Shane effectively killing any mood that might have been by bringing up the topic of a group run. Juliet stayed around the embers for a little longer, wanting to spend a little more time outside. Looking at the night sky gave her a sense of belonging. She had never took the time to look at the sky before – light pollution from the city making it dull to the human eye within the cities. Despite everything that happened to the world, the sky stayed the same. She felt herself changing as the days past by; all the work she had been doing to help camp helping her forge new skills. Andrea and Jacqui would mention that the jobs that the women in camp did were stereotypical ‘women’s work’ and ‘set women back 60 years’ but Juliet didn’t care about what was and wasn’t a ‘women’s place’. She had a place in a new world that wasn’t what she had been doing before. No one in camp really saw her as just another choice in a catalog they could pay for.

It was a few hours after everyone had gone to sleep did she kick out the embers. She stood up and waved at the man in watch and made her way a little ways into the woods. Juliet was getting a little better at navigating the area since she had first gotten lost; she could at least pinpoint the direction back to camp if the trees swallowed her if she walked out too far. She wasn’t planning on walking _that_ far from camp – all she had to do was take a quick run to do some bathroom business. Dale had explained to everyone in camp how the bathroom in the RV worked and no one was willing to constantly be dumping the septic tank that would need to move the RV away from camp so it was decided unless absolutely necessary, everyone would need to go into the woods.

That had been a tough adjustment for Juliet. She was so used to having access to indoor plumbing and five star living arrangements that the first few times she had to go do her business in the woods she had some _issues_ that she would rather never speak of again.

She was looking for a tree to hide behind when a pair of arms came up around her from behind. A hand covered her mouth as she let out a squeal of alarm and she felt a body press up against her from behind.

“Just me. Goin’ on a hunt in the morning. Be gone for a few days.” Daryl whispered into her ear. He removed his had from her mouth and brought it down to her hips near his other arm that was wrapped around her.

Juliet relaxed when she realized it was Daryl. “You scared me. I came out here to go pee and you almost got it out of me before I could go in the bushes like a normal person.”

He grunted a laugh and she felt his chest rumble. “So’s a bad time to see if you’re up for a quick fuck?”

“Oh I’m up for it. It’s been a week since the last one. I just gotta pee first.” Juliet said, moving out of his arms behind the tree in front of them. It took her a second before she came back to the side of the tree he was on, jeans still unbuttoned.

He dove in on her like a predator swooping after its prey. One of his hands gripped her neck lightly while the other slid into her still open pants. Her back hit the tree with a solid thump but it didn’t hurt. Daryl had become very in tune with how her body responded to his touches and Juliet’s body was ready for him before she could even think about how he was playing her like a fiddle. Her hands moved from rubbing against his groin and pushed her pants down. They slid down enough that she could remove one leg from them as Daryl removed his hands and undid his own pants enough to get his dick out.

Juliet stood on her tiptoes on one foot and brought the other up as far as she could to get it around his hips. He grabbed at her ass and helped lift her up. She brought the other leg up around his hips. Daryl used the tree to help hold her up while he adjusted himself before having her drop her core right onto him.

A loud moan left Juliet as she tried to keep her noises down by muffling herself on his shoulder. It helped a little bit, but his pace was steady and kept hitting her in _just_ the right place and she couldn’t keep it in as much as she liked.

Much like how he had gotten her ready to take him, Juliet’s release hit her just as unexpectedly. Her hands gripped his biceps hard – her final squeal muffed only by the fact that she lightly bit him. She righted around him during her release and he soon followed with his own.

With a final grunt her let her go. Her legs dropped and she stumbled against the tree and he backed away gripping his shoulder. “Fuckin’ Bitch. You bit me!” He said – barely a whisper.

“I didn’t want to alert anyone or anything nearby with how loud I was being.” Juliet replied casually, used to his slight outbursts of anger at this point. You couldn’t have secret sex in the woods for a month and a half without getting to know each other at least a little bit. “It was through the cloth. There probably isn’t even a mark on you.”

She watched as he lifted his shirt a little to check what he could in the moonlight. Watching his face let Juliet know he couldn’t see anything but still held a bit of leftover aggression. “Better not be. Don’t want to get shot because some whore bit me and people think it was some undead fuck instead.”

Juliet bent over and started to work her leg that was free back into her pants. Her legs never seemed to get the memo just after her orgasms so it was a little wobbly as she made her way to clothe herself again. “It wouldn’t have even broke skin. Whoever would shoot you for that has obviously never had kinky sex.”

He didn’t respond; he watched her work her way back into her pants and when she was all set to walk back to camp, he turned and walked away from her. Juliet ran her hands through her hair, fixing it as best she could with a lack of hairbrush and mirror, and started her way back to camp.

They barely talked when they met in the woods. Daryl would always be the one to find her and one of them would ask if the other was up for a quickie before they went into the down and dirty. Juliet would never turn him down when he asked – her libido always ready to make appointments even if she wasn’t getting paid anymore. Daryl had denied her once or twice; it was either he was doing something more important and didn’t have time or he just didn’t want to. Juliet never pushed.

The next morning saw Glenn taking the larger group on a run. Amy stuck near Juliet; Juliet could see Amy was worried about Andrea going on the run and tried her best to distract her. Amy had already gone over the entirety of _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ so Juliet decided it best to have some kind of discussion about it.

Amy had been sent with Juliet to collect some more berries – though it seemed Amy was more focused on mushrooms. “So what character did you like in Buffy again?” Juliet asked, casually as she picked some of the berries off of the bush.

“I really liked Spike. He was such an douche but he grew into a great character. I know people hated when they brought in Dawn but I loved the dynamic they had – he was such an older brother to her.” Amy replies. Glancing towards her, Juliet could see Amy looking at the mushrooms growing on the side of the tree. “Angel was pretty good too, until he left the show to go have his own spin-off. I got a little tired of the will-they-won’t-they a little before he left; so I guess it was a good thing.”

“I think from what you told me I would have liked Giles. He seemed well refined and knowledgeable a if a little absentminded at times.” Juliet said, taking a quick glance at Amy to see if she would respond.

Juliet cheered in her mind when Amy spun around, looking at her wide eyed. “That’s so gross! He’s like old enough to be a dad! He played the fatherly role in Buffy’s life – how could you like him?”

Juliet bit her lip to stop herself responding with the fact that she knew that she had daddy issues. “He’s caring and he was also a badass when he was younger. Not to mention he was a musician. Also, Spike and Angel are both way older then him age wise.”

“That’s different!” Amy said, defensively, “Spike and Angel were turned when they were still young-ish I think. Though Buffy and Angel did have a storyline where they talked about the age difference.” Amy slumped a bit and moved next to Juliet, sitting on a rock nearby. It was a moment before she spoke again. “I kinda wish I was a Slayer, you know? I wouldn’t have to worry about anything because I would have all the mystical powers of The Slayer and I’d be able to kick butt.”

“Those powers would come in handy in the world as it is right now.” Juliet said, standing up and picking up the bucket. “We should probably get back. I think we got all we could collect today.”

Camp was a lot quieter then usual. With all the people gone on the run most of the camp kept to themselves working on tasks to ready the camp for when they got back. The less work the group on the run had to do when they got back the sooner the supplies could be handled and set away.

Amy and Juliet were done their tasks for the day until dinner was to be cooked so they went so sit in some lawn chairs out in front of the RV in the shade. Juliet borrowed a book from Dale while Amy sat back in her chair and tried to get some rest. Juliet was barely through a chapter when the CB radio nearby started to crackle with someone trying to get through.

Amy jolted up and ran over towards the CB, trying to get it to work. Shane came over soon after and Juliet lost interest almost as soon as he showed his face. She tuned out the following argument as well, trying to focus on the mediocre book in front of her.

The fight finished almost as quickly as it started; Amy came back to the little lawn chair set up and sat down. Juliet could notice her leg bouncing as she stared off into the distance. Shane just always had to dampen spirits. 

Juliet closed the book and leaned over to Amy. “Want to sit in on a French class with Carl and Sophia? I’m sure they could use a break from regular schoolwork.”

A few hours later Carl and Sophia were helping Amy learn what the both of them were taught before. It really seemed to boost the confidence for the two twelve year olds - especially Sophia. Juliet took a little pride in that; Sophia was shy and withdrawn and Juliet wanted to help the girl as best she could. Juliet didn’t blame Carol – an abusive relationship was one hell of a bitch to get out of and that was when the world was still normal. All she knew was that she would keep an eye out on the situation; that was one of the good thinks of everyone thinking you needed a watchful eye or you’d hurt yourself – Carol was always within eyeshot of Juliet and if need be, Juliet would step in to fight Ed.

Juliet was quite small compared to most of the adults in camp. She’s give Carl maybe a year or two before he was much taller then she was. But she wasn’t afraid to fight when needed. Even though The Company did a deep search into a Clients background, people in Juliet’s position were still taught the basics of self defence. Clients could sometimes just go too far and she would need to push them back. Ed wasn’t anywhere near what a ‘client’ of The Company could be but Juliet was prepared to fight him like a hellcat if he so much as came at Carol when she was around. Thankfully Ed had been mainly using the verbal aspect of abuse rather then the physical.

The CB radio crackled with T-Dog’s voice alerting the whole camp to what was happening in Atlanta.

Juliet was rounding on Shane by the time Amy turned from him angrily. “What the _hell_ Shane! Glenn _told you_. He told you that a group would be an issue! And you didn’t listen!” Juliet stormed towards him working her way into his personal space. “This is your fault! Everyone in this camp has a friend or family member on that run and you expect us to do nothing? To except their fate? Fuck you!” Juliet reached out and pushed Shane in the chest. It didn’t move him much, but he did move a foot back to steady himself.

“They volunteered. They knew the risks the group run would take.” Shane said, sternly. He looked at Juliet like she was a small child having a tantrum. That just fuelled her anger more.

“Glenn told you the risks. You shut him down and disregarded the information he gave you. This was a call _you_ made so this lands on you.” Juliet glared at him and then turned away. “I’m going into the city with out without your so called permission.”

The next hour found Juliet getting things ready to head into Atlanta. Everyone in camp, though emotionally distraught, kept trying to stop her in various ways. Shane hid all the keys to the vehicles effectively keeping her in camp. She wouldn’t be able to get to group in the city in time to help without a type of transport. Lori, now located on Juliet’s shit list, had been following her around camp as Juliet was tearing it apart looking for any type of key.

“How are you going to get them out of there? They said they were surrounded by walkers. You won’t be able to get through.” Lori said as Juliet began to dig through where the supplies were kept.

Juliet didn’t even bother looking at her. “That shouldn’t be something you worry about.”

“It is when every last member of the group counts more then ever before.” Juliet could hear Lori sigh from behind her.

Juliet whipped around and rounded in on her. “It would not be like that if your _boyfriend_ didn’t order the group run in the first place.” She hissed – brushing her way out of the supply area and out into the camp. She didn’t even stop to see the shocked look on Lori’s face. Juliet was about to start making the long walk from the camp into the city when a loud noise echoed off the hills of the surrounding area. Juliet knew that sound anywhere.

It was the sound of a car alarm.


	5. The Last Unicorn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *as the chapter title suggests, The Last Unicorn is mentioned in this chapter. It is a fairly old book/movie, but here is a spoiler warning. Juliet tells some of it to Sophia as a story.

The red sports car that pulled up to camp was not something Juliet thought she would ever see again. It was a luxurious model, the red colour was bright – it was very much a ‘notice me’ colour. The loud alarm screeching out of the car, however, was sending a ‘notice me’ signal to any walkers in the area.

About half the camp jumped at Glenn; Shane the most intimidating force out of the bunch. Amy and Juliet ran over to Glenn, Juliet running up to him and wrapping him in a tight hug; he wrapped one arm around her reflexively. Glenn tried to answer everyone as best he could with all the questions coming at him from every direction.

As if saving him from being speared by all the questions, a large van came up the path to camp right behind the sports car. While everyone else started to sweep themselves up into reunions, Juliet let go of the hug she had been giving Glenn and held his shoulders at arms length.

“I don’t care if you’ve been avoiding me. You are my friend and I was worried and I am glad you are okay.” Juliet looked him over to make sure he had no injuries.

He started to brush off her inspection of him. “Juliet I’m fine I promise. We got trapped but there was a cop who showed up – he had the craziest idea and we were able to get out of there. Well. Everyone but Merle.”

Juliet looked around Glenn as Morales called out for the new guy to come out. She watched as he sauntered into camp; a true ‘southern’ walk if Juliet had ever seen one. He looked disheveled; his clothes were dirty and clearly sweaty. It looked like he was wearing a uniform – Juliet could take a guess and say it was a cop uniform from what Glenn had told her but she honestly couldn’t tell with her own knowledge. She did enjoy his beard scruff – he looked quite tasty with it and Juliet could just imagine the scratchy feeling it would give her.

“Dad!” Carl shouted, starting to run towards the newcomer. Juliet’s face twisted in confusion as she watched the reunion. Lori went running after Carl and all three of them met halfway.

Juliet’s mind flipped a switch and this newcomer, Rick - if Lori’s shouts as she ran to him were any indication, became majorly off-limits. It didn’t matter if Lori had been sneaking around with Shane – married was married.

Speaking of Shane – Juliet turned her head around to find him to see his reaction to Lori finding her husband. She could see the shock and disbelief clearly as he made his way over to the trio. Rick seemed happy to see Shane and from their body language, Juliet could tell that the two were at least friends.

‘ _Well if this didn’t get interesting.’_ Juliet thought.

At the campfire that night Juliet sat next to Glenn – whatever he had been avoiding her for Juliet still didn’t know but it seemed trivial now at the very least. Rick told them the story about how he woke up with the world changed; Juliet couldn’t even begin to comprehend the horror he must have felt upon first waking up into this shit show. She nudged Glenn lightly and gave him a small smile when Rick got to the point in his story where Glenn had saved him. Glenn glanced at her and looked away quickly back to his food, taking one of his hands and rubbing the back of his neck.

There was a crackling over by the Peletier’s campsite.

“Hey Ed, you want to rethink that log?” Shane projected his voice over – calm in tone but laced with warning.

“It’s cold man.” Ed replies, seemingly unbothered.

Juliet didn’t want to listen to the rest of the exchange, focused more on making sure Ed didn’t try anything.

“So what are we going to tell Daryl when he gets back from his hunt?” Dale says looking out at everyone around the fire.

“The truth.” Rick says solemnly, “I cuffed him there. It’s on me.”

“I should tell him.” T-Dog said, looking into the fire. “It’s on me. I dropped the key. I’ll tell him.”

“No offence,” Glenn cut in, “and I don’t mean to bring race into this but I think he might take it better coming from a white guy.”

“I did what I did. I’m not going to hide from it.” T-Dog replied.

“We could lie?” Amy questioned from her position leaning against Andrea.

“Or we could tell the truth. Merle Dixon was a danger to us all. Something had to be done or he could have gotten us killed.” Andrea said, pulling Amy a bit closer in a half hug. “And if Merle Dixon got left behind it so nobody’s fault but Merle’s.”

Dale held a look of disbelief. “And _that’s_ what we tell Daryl? I don’t see a rational discussion coming from that.” He paused for a moment before speaking again. “Word to the wise – we are going to have our hands full when Daryl gets back.”

T-Dog sighed. “I was scared and I ran; I’m not ashamed of it.”

“We were all scared. We all ran. What’s your point?” Andrea interrupted.

“I stopped long enough to chain the door.” T-Dog said, looking at the group around the fire. “The staircase is narrow – maybe about half a dozen geeks could get to the door, but not enough to get through. Not with that chain and padlock.” T-Dog let out a deep breath. “My point is that Dixon’s alive; still chained to that roof. That’s on us.”

As T-Dog got up and left the fire Juliet took a moment to look at everyone. She could see the emotions pass through everyone face. No one at camp may have liked Merle but that was one hell of a way to leave someone for dead.

The next morning found Juliet up bright and early. She was the odd one out so she was given berry duty on the promise that she wouldn’t wander out of shouting distance. She grabbed the bucket and made her way to the side of camp were she could start her collection when Carl and Sophia ran over to her.

“Juliet please say you’ll let us go with you. Mom doesn’t want us in the forest without any adults.” Carl said.

Juliet looked at Carl and then up at the approaching Lori. “They wanted to go play hide and seek.”Lori said; she crossed her arms around herself and looked away from Juliet. Juliet felt Lori probably wanted to avoid her as best she could after yesterday.

“I’ll tell you what,” Juliet said, looking between Carl and Lori, “I’ll keep an eye on them but I still have to pick berries. How about you two help me and then I can show you a game I used to play when I was your age. Sound good?”

Carl and Sophia shouted their agreements as Juliet looked at Lori. Lori looked thankful at the offer and ruffled Carl’s hair. “Go on now. You two listen to whatever Juliet tells you. And don’t wander too far.”

Carl and Sophia each took a side beside Juliet as the three of them made their way into the forest. Carl was the most talkative out of the three, mainly taking the initiative to ask Juliet questions.

“Where’d you learn French anyway? I didn’t learn anything like it in school.” Carl asked as they reached the berry bushes.

Juliet hummed in response. “I grew up speaking French. I’m not from the United States like you and Sophia.” She said as she started to pick some blackberries.

“Where are you from?” Sophia asked, softly. Sophia seemed more interested in watching Juliet then actively helping fill the bucket; for every tenth berry Juliet picked, Sophia would put in one.

“I was raised in Quebec. That’s in Canada.” Juliet said, “it’s the country north of here – and it’s a bilingual country, meaning it’s both French and English. Quebec is the only full French province in Canada.”

“What’s a province?” Carl asked. He was eating every second berry he put in.

“It’s like how in the US you have states. In Canada, we have provinces and territories. We have 10 provinces and 3 territories like how you have – I think it’s 52 states?” Juliet said, looking between both Sophia and Carl. They both chuckled at her.

“It’s 50 states!” Carl giggled.

They were quiet for a moment – laughter escaping as they focused on their task. Juliet looked at the two twelve year olds ask they went about their task. She wasn’t much older then they were when The Company came in and swooped her up into their clutches. That was one good thing about the world ending as it did – no one else would be inducted like she had been. Though, Juliet did suppose that Carl and Sophia were going to have to live a whole other kind of life that would be far from normal. As she thought more on the topic of a normal childhood Juliet decided on an idea so quickly that she hadn’t realized she had begun to care for these two children as much as she had – given her lack of experience with the younger generation.

Juliet was going to protect these children with everything she had in order to give them a semi normal life.

“What are you thinking about?” Carl asked Juliet.

Juliet then noticed that Carl and Sophia had stopped picking berries and were staring at her. “Oh, nothing much.” Juliet said, trying to brush off their interest. They both didn’t stop looking at her, waiting for an answer. Unwilling to give them the truth, Juliet settled for telling them something else. “I was just- uh- I was just remembering the times when my papa used to take me out to pick berries with him. I was probably a little younger then you are now.”

“You used to do that?” Carl looked awed at the prospect of going out into the wilderness before everything went to shit with the world. “Where would you go to do that?”

“We would drive a little ways out of town – where I grew up was a very small town and we were surrounded by the wilderness – and we would park on the side of the highway. My papa would hand me one of my toy buckets and he would have one larger then this one,” Juliet indicated the bucket the three of them were currently using, “and we would go into the brush by the roadside and pick blueberries. We wouldn’t go home until his bucket was full.”

Sophia’s eyes were wide with wonder. “Where would you get blueberries from? I only saw them at the store.”

“Blueberries tend to grow after a forest fire.” Juliet said, indicating to the woods around them. “My papa used to tell me that nature causes thing like forest fires to happen so new things are able to grow. The burnt wood helps the soil become something good for blueberries – so then the blueberries can grow.” Juliet brought a hand into the dirt before shifting some over a fallen berry. “New things can grow even though the old things are gone. Nature has a way to always keep going.”

They trio stayed crouched, looking at where Juliet had buried the berry for a moment before Juliet stood up and brushed off her pants. “I’m sure we could find some wild blueberries around here somewhere. What do you say?”

Carl and Sophia stood up quickly with a cheer. Juliet picked up the bucket and began walking with Carl and Sophia a little deeper into the berry patch. This time Juliet made sure to keep an eye on if she could see the RV from the distance she was walking while keeping an eye on both kids. The kids kept their eyes low looking for any sign of blueberries while Juliet kept an eye on their surroundings – she was determined not to get lost again, especially with the kids around. 

Juliet froze as they got to a clearing. “ _Mon Chou_? I need you to run back to camp right now. Get one of the adults who has a weapon.”

Juliet kept her eyes on the walker; it was crouched down eating a dead deer. She heard Sophia say softly, “Juliet?”

The walker noticed them and started to stumble its way towards them. “Go! Now!” Juliet heard the scattered footsteps of the two of them run away as she put herself in between the walker and Sophia and Carl.

It seemed more focused on her as she was not running from its advance. Juliet took the bucket and swung as hard as she could in an upward arch towards the walker’s head. It connected and the walker stumbled back, but the bucket came detached from the handle and went flying across the small clearing. The walker righted itself, and there was a moment where she saw the useless handle in her hand before the walker lunged at her. 

She let out a scream as the walker used the force of all its deadweight to knock her over onto the ground. It was trying to grab at her sweater to get to her neck but she was pushing it off of her as best she could. Her arm was pushed up on its neck just under its chin; it’s jaws kept snapping at her, inching slowly towards her.

Her screams began to turn more towards sobs. Juliet wasn’t sure how long she could hold off the walker – she didn’t even know if Carl and Sophia would have been able to get help, let alone to safety. There could be more walkers around they she hadn’t seen. Its hot breath could be felt on her face and Juliet wanted to gag at the stench; these things were clearly rotting from the inside as much as they were on the outside.

A metal rod seemed to come out of nowhere and knock the walker off of Juliet. She didn’t even think as she scrambled backwards, away from the undead monster, until she had crawled backwards into Dale. Dale took a quick moment to make sure she wasn’t hurt before charging in with the rest of the group into the fray. It took longer then she would have thought to take down one of the undead, but Dale seemed to finish it off with one strong swing of his axe – decapitating the walker.

As everyone tried to discuss what the walker was doing so close to camp so high up in the mountains, Juliet’s adrenaline started to drop off the cliff it apparently was on during the fight with the walker. She covered her mouth to try and quick the sobs, curling in on herself. Everything around her seemed to disappear and all she could feel was the weakness shaking through her body. Her stomach felt as if it was trying to come out of her throat and her heart was trying to leap out of her chest. Her vision started to blur, and no matter how much she tried to focus nothing seemed to stay in her vision for long. The next thing she knew was darkness.

Juliet came to her senses a few hours later. She was laying down on one of the beds in the back of the RV. She could clearly hear everyone moving about their own business outside and she felt an internal guilt skyrocket as she realized she must have been useless to helping provide for the camp for the whole day. She looked at the bucket handle still grasped in her hand and she felt her eyes tear up. Juliet let go of the handle like it was hot iron and rubbed at her eyes with the heels of her hands.

Light footsteps approached her as she felt the RV shake with movement. Juliet looked over to the entrance of the sleeping area and saw Dale. He smiled at her kindly. “Hey kid, how’re you feeling?” He said softly.

“Awful.” Juliet replied, looking away to avoid making eye contact. She started to sit up before Dale came over to make sure she stayed in the bed.

“You need to rest. You’ve been through quite an emotional ordeal.” Dale said, making Juliet stay sitting on the RV bed. He handed her a plastic bottle filled with water. “You stay here and slowly drink all of that.”

It was silent for a moment as Juliet took a sip of the water. “What happened?” She asked Dale, barely a whisper.

“From what I can guess it was a stress induced panic attack. My wife used to get them in the beginning when she was first diagnosed.” Dale said, patting her on the shoulder as he sat down on the bed. “It takes the same amount of energy out of you as running a marathon. No one in camp is going to hold it against you.” Dale was quiet for another moment. To Juliet it looked like he wanted to leave but he also wanted to tell her something. She let him take his time, sipping the water every now and again. Finally, he spoke. “Glenn went back into the city with Daryl, Rick, and T-Dog. They were going back to get Merle and some guns that got dropped from the first run.”

“He went back into the city? After everything that just happened?” Juliet asked, her hands starting to shake a bit.

Dale placed his hands over hers gently. “They’ll be fine this time - I’m sure of it.” He stood up and made his way to leave the RV. “Sophia wanted to spend time with you, but Carol wanted her to wait until you woke up to ask you if you were up to visitors.”

“Send her in.” Juliet said with a small smile.

Dale left, and not a few moments later Sophia softly shuffled in. She made her way quietly towards the back area where Juliet was sitting and stopped when she got to the doorway. “I’m sorry we ran away and left you behind.” She said softly.

Juliet felt guilt at having Sophia feel like everything that had happened and been her fault. “Oh _mon chou_ no. This was not your fault one bit. Come here.” Juliet beckoned for Sophia to come sit with her on the bed. Sophia waited a few seconds before shuffling over, getting taken in by Juliet in a hug. “I’m the adult and I was in charge of protecting you and Carl. You listened to me and you got to safety. You did the right thing.”

Sophia let out a soft sniffle and nodded. Juliet took one of her hands and rubbed Sophia’s back soothingly.

They stayed like that for a little while before Juliet let go to drink some more water. She looked at Sophia and saw that she still didn’t look like she was feeling better. “Where’s Carl?” Juliet asked, hoping to bring Sophia out of this protective shell she had put herself in.

“He went to the quarry to catch frogs with Shane.” Sophia scrunched her nose.

Juliet chuckled. “That sounds like fun. You didn’t want to go with them?”

“Catching frogs is for boys. Their all slimy and gross.” Sophia said, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

“Are we talking about the frogs or the boys being slimy.” Juliet said with a wink. Sophia giggled. “How about I tell you a story? It’s something I would read all the time before – well. Back when I was younger then you.”

Sophia seemed to perk up a little bit. “What’s it about?”

“Oh it’s about magic, an evil king, and most importantly – a unicorn.” Juliet said, moving her hands in the air to add an air of mystery.

“Oh please tell me.” Sophia said, adjusting herself to settle in for a story.

“Well, it starts off with two hunters going into a forest.” Juliet began.

“Hunters like Daryl and Merle?” Sophia asked.

“Exactly like Daryl and Merle. These two hunters are on their horses, looking for something to hunt. But the forest they are in is strange. One of the hunters, the older one, suggests that it’s a Unicorn’s forest. The younger one doesn’t believe him. The older one continues to mention that this forest’s season never changes – that it’s always spring here. He mentions that animals that live in a unicorn’s forest pick up on some of the magic they wield. They both decide to leave, but not before calling out to the unicorn to stay in her forest and protect her friends – for she is the last.” Juliet pauses for a moment for Sophia to take in everything.

Sophia sits opposite her, enthralled.

“The unicorn hears them but she doesn’t believe their words that she is the last. Unicorns are immortal – they can’t just disappear. They could be hunted or trapped, even killed if they left their forests but they couldn’t just vanish.” Juliet took a pause to sip more water. “The Unicorn was walking around her forest, wondering what the human hunters could mean before she ran into a butterfly. Butterfly’s are world travellers, you see, so they hear many stories and song. This butterfly could have heard about what happened to the other unicorns. However, butterflies are known to copy what they hear so it isn’t until the Unicorn has had enough of his singing and nonsense does he tell her what happened.”

Sophia leaned in as Juliet did; Juliet brought her voice down a bit to get a more serious tone across. “You can find the others if you are brave. The pasted down all the roads long ago and the Red Bull ran close behind them and covered their footprints.” Juliet began to use her hands to help tell the story. “The Unicorn was shocked They Red Bull? What is the Red Bull?’ She cried. ‘His firstling bull has majesty, and his horns are the horns of a wild ox. With them, he shall push the unicorns, all of them, to the ends of the earth.’”

Both Juliet and Sophia jumped as the door to the RV was opened and Shane came tumbling in. He noticed Sophia and Juliet both looking at him – he brought a hand up to rub the back of his neck. Juliet didn’t like the look of him.

“Sophia why don’t you go play with Carl. I can finish the story later.” Juliet said with a gentle touch to her shoulder.

Sophia nodded and stood from the bed. She shuffled her way out of the RV past Shane, and gave one final look behind her before she left the RV and closed the door.

“What are you doing here Shane? Is something going on in camp I can help with?” Juliet said, watching him as he began to make his way over. “Because I can tell you that sitting here for a few hours isn’t on my list of things I –”

Juliet was cut off from whatever she was going to say by Shane teaching down and grabbing either side of her face and pulling it in for a rough kiss. She was shocked at first, and her body responded with the muscle memory she had built up over years of working for The Company. Her thoughts started to kick back into gear when Shane brought one of his hands down towards her hips. Juliet pulled away from him, but he tried to follow. She started to push on his chest more for him to understand what she wanted then to actually push him away. Shane was a larger man and she had no hope of actually physically pushing him away. He took a second before he ripped himself away and went to stand by the doorway of the bed area of the RV. Juliet pushed herself back and as far away from him as possible.

“What the hell was that Shane?” Juliet said in a hissed whisper.

He didn’t seem to want to talk for a moment, nervously twisting his hands. “I saw you with Dixon in the woods.”

Juliet felt her blood run cold. It was like ice water was dumped over her head. “You what?”

“I _saw_ you and _Dixon_ in the _woods._ ” He took a step closer to her. “And from what I could tell it was just something meaningless. The way you acted at the end and how I see you acting in camp.”

“So what? That gives you the right to come in here and just kiss me?” Juliet said back with more confidence then she had right now. “Lori dumps you and you look for the next thing that could be willing?”

Juliet saw his face darken a bit. “I could protect you better the Dixon could – he doesn’t even care about you.”

“So what? Anything I do is my own choice. Get the fuck out of here and don’t come near me ever again.” Juliet said. Shane cursed under his breath before storming his way out of the RV.

She waited a quiet moment to make sure he was gone before she sprinted towards the bathroom. She closed the sliding door and turned to face the mirror. She hadn’t really taken the time to look at herself since she left the hotel but her mind started to make connections. Her hair was a dark brown, long in it’s length – probably just a little past her shoulder blades. Her hair was thick, but it was almost pin straight. Her eyes were more almond shaped, but they held a similar colour of brown. She wasn’t as pale – mostly due to her father’s side of the family being Innu – but she could see how Shane had made a connection. A connection that did not sit well with Juliet at all – one that made a chill run up her spine as she remember countless men calling her by the wrong name; hiring her for that specific purpose.

She looked similar Lori – the woman who, up until this point, had been attaching herself to Shane. The unstable look she saw when he first came in the RV came rushing back into her brain. This wasn’t going to end well for anyone in the group if Shane kept his path towards jumping off the deep end.


	6. I Threw Glass at My Friend’s Eyes and Now I’m on Probation

The Company didn’t really give any of the people in Juliet’s position the freedom to do whatever they wanted. Their focus was always steered towards how they were supposed to appear for their current clientele. Before Juliet was old enough to be sent out to work and had time away from her studies she was able to focus on a few topics that peaked her interest.

One of those interests happened to be Serial Killers.

Morbid as it was that particular topic helped Juliet with telling the good clients from the bad. Back when she was still actively working a majority of her clients, the rich and power – CEOs and millionaires – had a higher chance of being a psychopath or a sociopath. The warning signs, the types of killers that were caught, the study of the criminal mind – all of it helped her in situations where a client was not to friendly.

Shane coming at her like he did instead of trying to get with any of the other single women in camp gave her a chill down her spine. Juliet wasn’t Lori but the similarities were enough for her to make the connection. If Shane couldn’t have Lori he was going to try for someone else – someone similar.

Ted Bundy didn’t just kill randomly. He had a ‘type’.

Juliet had decided that enough time was spent sitting in the RV doing nothing. Before leaving, she brought her hair up into an up-do – tying it into a bun with her own hair due to a lack of hair ties. She brushed over herself, making subtle changes to distance herself from Lori as much as possible. She took off her sweater and took the undershirt and undid the bottoms few buttons before tying it together to make a sort of crop top. The tattoo that went up her side and ended around her navel became half visible; Purple carnations in a watercolour style treaded down her side and disappeared under the waistline of her jeans. The piercing on her navel became visible as well - a gem that was a real diamond with a dangling opal butterfly. 

Lori’s image was that of a sweet woman; in her younger days before she had gotten married she was probably the girl next door popular type. With all the sweaters and trying to match the ‘southern hospitality’ when around the group Juliet had become a version of what Lori might have been while she was younger – a version Shane probably knew with how close he had been with the Grimes’ family. This slight shift would take Juliet out of that sweet image.

Hardcore Christian values and the generalization of the beliefs of those who lived in the Bible Belt Juliet figures the tattoo and piercing becoming visible in such a way would take her out of the role of the ‘girl-next-door’. She had never been in the Bible Belt long – never long enough that she would have to conform to the values of the area – but she assumed it would be much like the rural areas of Quebec she had lived in before The Company when she was still with her family. She recalled several different people from her youth who would shame her for such choices without even knowing what she had grown up to do as a job.

Discarding the sweater in her small area in the RV she made her way outside. Looking around, she noticed that most people were already assigned jobs. Juliet wanted to stay away from Lori as much as possible at the moment, Carol seemed to be fussing over Ed – who had somehow gotten his face destroyed, and Jim was tied to a tree. Looking over at the quarry Juliet could see both Andrea and Amy on a boat trying to fish.

She could feel eyes on her from some people in the camp and ignored them the best she could. Eyes on her had never been much of an issue – it was the judgement she felt from the gazes that wriggled in the back of her mind. She walked over and made her way up to the top of the RV sitting next to Dale in the process.

“Feeling better to be up and about?” Dale asked, not even looking over at her.

“I don’t think I could have stayed inside a moment longer.” Juliet said, “A lot more seems to have happened since I’ve been out then just the group that went into the city for Merle. What happened?”

Dale filled her in. Ed has been an asshole and hit Carol; while the other women tried to keep Carol away from him Shane jumped in and beat Ed up to a pulp and Shane threatened him that next time Shane had to fight him for hurting someone in camp that he wouldn’t stop. Jim had gone a little insane with the heat and had dug what had seemed to be grave holes in the ground before Shane had _deescalated_ the situation in a similar manner to Ed – but with less punches.

Juliet leaned a little closer to Dale to whisper in. “I don’t think Shane is stable. I think Rick coming back might have made him snap.”

It was quiet before Dale looked at her. “What makes you say that?” He said back quietly – understanding that this might not be a conversation that they wanted to be overheard.

“He had some macho aggression before Rick came back – he was the leader and he needed us to know it. He –“ Juliet took a pause for a second, looking around to be sure no one was in hearing distance, “He was having a fling or something with Lori and seemed to grow into the role of parenting Carl. Rick comes back and starts to take all that from him. Now he’s aggressive towards several people in the group and I can’t see this going well.”

“You were feeling this way before you found out about what happened with Jim and Ed.” Dale met Juliet’s eyes and she could feel a fatherly warmth coming from him. It made her miss her own father. “What did he do to you Juliet?”

“It- it wasn’t much.” Juliet said, rolling up the sleeves on the button up shirt as something to focus on rather then to help her cool off a bit. “It wasn’t like he hurt me or did anything like with Ed or Jim. I could just see in him eyes that he’s starting to lose control and that worries me.”

Dale didn’t seem to buy what she told him, but he didn’t push the topic either. “I’ll keep an eye on him as well. We should be ready in case he tries to do something that could harm the group.”

Night fell quickly. Juliet had spent the rest of the day on top of the RV keeping watch; it allowed Dale to take a break and help out more around camp while it kept her away from everyone else. Andrea and Amy has caught a lot of fish – and the whole camp was excited for the ‘good ol’ fashion fish fry’. Morales built up some stones around the main campfire so the flames could be a bit higher for what Juliet assumed was a form of a party focused on cooking the fish up. It was a nice affair – the whole camp seemed to get along a lot better then any of them had before. Juliet could almost see them joining hands around a Christmas tree and singing despite the ‘loss’ of Christmas.

Juliet’s new ‘look’ seemed to give the desired effect. Most of the camp gave her a wide berth; Carol and Sophia the exception. Sophia loved the pretty flowers in Juliet’s tattoo and Carol smiles as Sophia held a conversation on her own with Juliet about something she was interested in.

“So what kind of flowers are they?” Sophia asked in between bites of food.

“Purple carnations.” Juliet replied.

“They’re lovely. The wildflowers around camp are nice to look at but I wish we were able to see more flowers!” Sophia sighed, picking at what was left of the fish on her plate.

“When Sophia had career day at school she went dressed as a florist.” Carol said gently, nudging Sophia lightly.

Juliet watched Sophia give a small smile up at her mother. “You know,” Juliet said, “Each flower has its own meaning.”

Sophia’s eyes widened. “Really?!”

“ _Oui mon chou._ It was used way back in the day so people could send each other messages with bouquets. It is why we have red roses to show love.”

“What do purple carnations mean?” Sophia asked looking up at Juliet with wonder.

Juliet wasn’t quite sure how to answer that question. “It is not a happy meaning _mon chou._ I got them to honour my parents after they passed. These flowers are often used in France at funerals.” The three of them were silent for a moment before Juliet spoke again. “Are you still hungry _mon chou_?” At Sophia’s nod, Juliet gave her the remaining half of her dinner. “I’m going to go for a walk. I need to stretch my legs.”

Juliet stood and walked away before Carol could even say anything. When she was a good distance away, she rubbed at her eyes to stop them watering. Juliet hadn’t talked about her parents in almost a decade and speaking of them reminded her of the night everything went wrong and how The Company swooped in and took her in. She lightly traced the visible part of the tattoo as she stopped by one of the vehicles at the edge of camp. It was a beat up old truck – a nice blue colour covered it with a few wears and tears on the paint job. Juliet didn’t know who owned it but it seemed well taken care of despite it’s assumed age. She leaned against it and looked up at the night sky. The sky’s inky blackness sprinkled with the glittering of stars calmed her emotions somewhat; the sky hadn’t changed no matter how much she did. Her parents would have seen the same sky while they were alive – the same moon and stars. Juliet sighed and brought a hand up to wipe away the last bit of tears around her eyes.

A shuffling and a groan sounded way to close to her and she quickly looked in the direction of the noise.

Three walkers were coming right towards her. Juliet turned to run away but two more were making their way towards her from the other side. Screams started to be made from the fires around the centre of camp and Juliet’s joined them. She turned towards the truck and climbed into the pan of the truck hoisting herself up on the side with the wheel. She backed into the centre but the walkers’ hands were almost reaching her from around the sides. Juliet backed herself up to the cabin of the truck and felt along the back window to see if there was a square window she could slide open and fit through.

All she did was get finger marks all over the glass.

Panicking, Juliet climbed on top of the trucks cabin. She stood in the centre, hoping that it wouldn’t dent underneath her and that the owner of the truck wouldn’t mind that she was stood on their vehicle. She tried not to think about the gunshots and the screams – she didn’t want to know who was dying. Juliet hopes Sophia and Carl were alright – Morales’ children as well. From what Juliet knew, the children in camp were all near their parents so at the very least they should have adults to protect them.

Juliet felt the truck starting to shake and she hoped to all hopes that the five walkers weren’t strong enough together to tip the truck.

More gunshots joined in. Juliet couldn’t see where they were coming from but more of the undead seemed to start dropping like flies. Crossbow bolts started to hit the ones that surrounded the truck and Juliet never felt more grateful for the timing of the universe.

Daryl came into view as the last few around the truck were taken out. Juliet wanted a split second to hear the gunshots stop; the noise being replaced by the sobs of the survivors before sliding down the front of the truck and almost tackling Daryl into a tight hug. He stumbled back a bit as Juliet ran into him and it was a moment before he awkwardly patted her on her back.

Juliet frantically began thanking him but took one look at his confused face to realize she hadn’t been speaking English. She cleared her throat and stepped back. “Thank you _mon gros_ I thought that I was going to die.” He grunted and turned away from her – walking back towards the camp proper. Juliet sighed and wiped her eyes of anything that could be thought of as tears.

It was now obvious that camp was no longer safe.

Sleep didn’t come easy that night. Most of the group who were left focused on making sure that those who died stayed dead and those already dead got deader. Everyone took shifts – resting for a little while, mostly pretending to sleep so they would be ready for what came tomorrow. The consensus was that the whoever was left in the group would have to move on. A lot of people didn’t make it; the swarm that descended upon camp taking down almost everyone. Out of the thirty odd people who had been staying in camp only thirteen were left. Juliet didn’t like those odds if another herd found them.

She spent most of her time up by the holes that Jim had been digging yesterday while she had been passed out. Everyone else was making sure that everyone was properly put to rest and Juliet wanted to have a place ready for those that they had lost. Glenn helped her until the sun started to peak over the horizon so they could both take a small break to try and get some rest. Juliet tried to make them deep, but she didn’t think that a six foot deep hole would be a luxury that they had; she did want to make them better then shallow graves.

The graves were close to being finished before the truck she had sought refuge on came pulling up to the clearing. She stopped digging and leaned on her shovel to watch the two men step out. Daryl and T-Dog seemed to be the ones assigned to the job. Juliet was glad that despite both Dixon’s being racist in some form or another Daryl seemed to be fine working with T-Dog. The trip into the city to get Merle must have at least brought them to an understanding. She knew T-Dog had the same feelings towards working with the Dixon’s as much as they wanted to work with him.

Daryl was grumbling and she couldn’t make out what he was saying. T-Dog seemed to have the same look of displeasure as they moved the bodies from the back of the truck. Juliet tried to ignore their mood as best she could – she had known most people in camp in passing but never really got to know them. She wasn’t sure what had soured the moods of both T-Dog and Daryl but she didn’t want to bring it up.

Everything else seemed to pass in a blur. The funerals were short; each person getting their own respects paid. Juliet didn’t notice the argument about where to go next until it got loud. Despite her wanting to avoid Shane as much as possible, both options he and Rick were suggesting didn’t seem good.

“I get you both want to find somewhere safe but somewhere with a military presence will not be a good choice.” Both men turned to look at her as she approached. “Fort Benning is bound to be filled with military people and if I learned anything about things happening in natural disasters and disease outbreak they would probably shoot us before letting us in. At the very least they would stick us in a quarantine and leave us there to die.” She turned to look more towards Rick. “The CDC might have some kind of cure – that is a hope we can have. But the same situation stands. If any government officials are within the area they would rather let us die then bring harm to the leaders of the country.”

Shane looked down at Juliet, displeased. “And where did you learn this information?”

Juliet saw his look of distain but said her answer anyway. “Mainly films.”

Shane scoffed and turned away from her. Rick looked at her and if he held any kind of similar emotions as Shane she couldn’t see it in his eyes. Rick’s eyes seemed to hold a rare emotion these days – hope. “Jim‘a been bit.” Rick said. “If we want to save him his best chance is at the CDC.”

“I don’t want to go to either place.” Juliet said, looking Rick in the eye – unwilling to back down. “There is safety in numbers but at the first sign of trouble at either place I’m going to leave.”

Juliet turned and left Rick and Shane to their bickering. They would decide on where the group would be going even if Juliet hadn’t said anything; she still thought they should know her opinion on the matter. She knew that a change would be needed in her things – a suitcase would not be easy to depart a group with at the drop of a hat. It was fine when she had no other options but now, morbid as it was, there was a variety of different bags and clothes to choose from after the swarm’s attack. Juliet saw Lori give her a look of disappointment as she started to go though the tents left behind by the deceased; at this point Juliet didn’t care what Lori did or didn’t think – survival was more important.

Within the items Juliet was able to get a duffle bag and a backpack – both fairly sturdy and in muted colours. She was able to find clothes more suited to her as well; the oversized shorts and sweaters were getting to be too much for her – she was much more used to form fitting clothes and the swishy space that the sweaters gave her was starting to get annoying. It was a handful of tank tops in a variety of different colours that might have been a little too small, even on her. They were tight and the bottom of them only came down to just below her naval; if she were to reach anywhere it would certainly ride up to show her piercing on her bellybutton. She found a few flannels, all larger in her like the sweaters, but she took them to at least have in case she needed an extra layer. The jeans she currently had were a little loose on her but would still be able to function so she avoid most of the other pairs of pants; most of them seemed like they wouldn’t fit her to begin with – she already had to roll up the legs of the jeans she had so she wouldn’t be tripping over the ends. Juliet did find a two pairs of jean shorts that she figured she would be able to wear – she wasn’t from Georgia so the heat was starting to get to her and clothes that could help her stay cool were a must.

She hit a goldmine when she went into a tent and found an unopened pack of underwear. Juliet didn’t want to ask whose tent it was or why they would have an unopened pack but she was glad for it. The size was maybe a little to big for her but she was happy with the find. Juliet knee her breasts were small enough that she wouldn’t need to wear a bra – something she was glad for ever since she saw other women at The Company with larger ones having to constantly double up on sport-bras when they would be in the gym The Company forced them into to make sure they maintained their shape.

Changing quickly, she opened the underwear pack and shoved all but one into the dufflebag. Juliet put on the underwear and a pair of the shorts and a tank top, tying a flannel around her waist in case she needed to use it later. She swapped out her flats for a pair of clean socks and a pair of hiking boots that were maybe a size or two too big. The only thing she kept from her old outfit was the pair of jeans for later.

Any supplies she found that could be used for later was put into the duffle with her new clothes. Any type of food or things she could use to keep up basic hygiene were shoved into the bag. Juliet made her way back to the RV to take anything out of her suitcase that could be useful and transfer it over to her new bags when Daryl approached her.

“Jim’s in there.” He said as he walked in front of Juliet, blocking her way.

Juliet looked at him and tried to sidestep past him. He blocked her movement. “Look – I’m just getting my suitcase. Whatever time I’m spending in there is to get it in and out so I can toss it and anything that’s not going to be useful.”

Before Juliet could blink Daryl had turned around and went into the RV and came out with her suitcase. He didn’t even look at her as he took the suitcase over to his truck. Juliet huffed and followed him. Daryl dropped the suitcase and turned to look at Juliet when he got to his truck. “Heard you say you’re gonna leave if where the group heads doesn’t plan out.”

“That’s the plan. I don’t want to be shot on sight or locked in an area just waiting to turn into one of those things.” Juliet crouched down to start going through the suitcase – uncaring if Daryl saw anything inside. “I don’t know where I’ll go but it will be as far away from any government officials that I can get.”

“I’ll go with ya.” Juliet stopped sorting to look up at him. Daryl was looking at the ground and away from her. “I gotta look for Merle and there’s a better chance when we got numbers.”

“I get it.” Juliet said coyly. She saw Daryl try to avoid eye contact even harder then before. “I watch your back you watch mine. It’d be pretty hard to travel without someone with you to keep watch while you sleep. 72 hours without sleep causes hallucinations and that won’t help you find Merle.” Juliet finished taking everything she needed out of the suitcase and stood up to face Daryl. “Do you mind if I ride with you? I honestly don’t want to be in the same vehicle as someone who could turn at a moments notice.”

Daryl’s answer was to take the duffle bag from her and toss it into the back of the truck next to the motorbike.


	7. All You Wanna Do

The caravan to the CDC started not long after Juliet had settled things with Daryl. The silence between them was thick. Juliet was unsure as to what to say – their only common topic she knew they had was the quick fucks in the woods. Daryl, she was sure, preferred not talking at all. Juliet didn’t quite know what to do with the silence; she started to fidget. She adjusted how she was sitting, wiggling in her seat trying to find a comfortable position. Juliet crossed and uncrossed her legs and she just couldn’t seem to find a place to put her arms.

Daryl made a noise sucking in air through his teeth. “Would ya just stop.” He scolded. “For someone who’s used to sittin’ pretty for her whole life you can’t seem to sit still.”

“I never drove this much before.” Juliet admitted. “Last time was probably back before I – before.”

Daryl looked at her for a quick moment out of the side of his eyes. Silence filled the car as neither of them seemed to want to speak again. Juliet tried to sit as still as she could but she found herself adjusting every so often.

“What’d you do? Before?” Daryl eventually asked.

“I – uh.” Juliet eloquently said, “What do you mean?”

Daryl shifted, seeming to relax a bit more as he drove, sinking down in the drivers seat and loosely gripping the wheel. “Before you was a fancy whore.”

Juliet shifted more into herself. “I’ve always been with The Company. Since I was nine.”

“What kind of – you were – what kind of name is The Company?” Daryl’s face hardened but Juliet didn’t notice. “Nine? You were a kid and they-“ Daryl cut himself off, not wanting to say anything else.

“It’s a generic name I guess. It was used so people didn’t find it unless they had the connections or money.” Juliet turned to look out the window not wanting to see Daryl’s face as she continued. “My parents died the summer I turned nine; a train explosion – the train was moving oil and it was going too fast down the tracks late in the night and it jumped off the turn and crashed into a bar. A lot of people were killed. My parents were two of them.” Juliet stopped to wipe her eye as a stray tear tried to escape. “The Company came in a little while after I was getting put into the foster system.”

Daryl gripped the wheel a bit tighter – Juliet didn’t notice.

“I didn’t start _working_ until I was eighteen. The rest of the time was spent getting taught everything I needed to. Interpersonal connections. How to be someone without being anything at all.” Juliet sniffed, and patted the side of her face trying to clear any stray emotions. “I don’t know why I’m even telling you everything. Maybe because you already know what I used to do. Or that I know you won’t say anything.” Juliet looked at him for the first time since this whole topic had started. “I guess it’s nice to not pretend around anyone anymore.”

Daryl looked at her and grunted in agreement before turning his head to make sure he was watching the road. He looked as if he was about to say something before there was a loud bang. Juliet spun around in her seat to look behind them in the caravan and saw smoke coming from the RV. Daryl just as quickly came to a stop. Juliet was out of the truck before it was even in park. She vaguely heard Daryl curse something but by the time he had gotten out of the truck she had run back to the RV and had met Dale out front by the RV’s engine.

“What’s going on? Can the RV still run?” She asked coming up behind Dale as he looked into where the engine was.

“It’s that tube. We needed it from the cube van – this one is shot and we’re dead in the water.” Dale said, frustrated.

Juliet jumped as Shane came up behind her. “There should be a gas station a little ways ahead. I can go up there and see if there is anything there we could use.”

“You better be quick,” Dale said, taking off his hat, “I don’t think Jim can hold on much longer.”

“I’ll go too.” Juliet blurted out. She saw confused looks from Dale and Daryl. She didn’t want to see what Shane looked like. “It’d be quicker if it’s only a few of us. And you’ll need someone to watch you’re back.”

Shane hummed in response and before anyone could say anything they both got into Shane’s Jeep and headed off towards the gas station.

Juliet looked behind the front seats as Shane drove. She reached down and pulled out a baseball bat – a wooden one with a high school logo on it. Juliet brought out the bat to the front seat. “You used to play?”

Shane glances over at her. “Back in school before I became a cop. Used to play on the team we had at work.”

“So why do you still have a high school bat?”

“It’s my lucky bat.” Juliet scoffed at him. “No really. It is.” Shane took his hands on the wheel and made a small motion as if to mimic a swing. “Never lost a game when I used that bat. The guys at the station used to poke fun at me for it but I’m here and they aren’t.”

There was a pause between them and Juliet was confronted with why she wanted to stay away from Shane in the first place. “If you don’t mind, I’ll use it when we get to the gas station.”

“I’d be crazy if I said no to someone watching my back with my lucky bat.” They kept silent until Shane pulled up into the parking lot outside the gas station. He looked over at Juliet as they pulled to a stop. “Why’d you wanna come on this trip anyway? I thought you wanted to stay away from me.”

Juliet did not look at him; she kept her eyes focused on the gas station in front of them. “Honestly? I don’t want to be there when Jim dies from the fever. He wasn’t doing well at camp and I don’t want to watch a man suffer that way. I picked the lesser of two evils.” Juliet opened the door on her side of the Jeep and stepped outside – closing the door quietly behind her.

Shane huffed in his form of a chuckle before making his way of the the Jeep himself.

The gas station was run down – probably even looked shabby even before the world went to shit. There were makeshift signs hung around the dirty looking pumps advising that there was no gas. Wood beams and a paper covering were spread across the front window blocking everything inside. The structure itself didn’t look as sturdy as a regular building and Juliet was worried about the potential collapse of the thing. On one of the far sides there was a tow truck parked and a mangled body laying nearby in a mechanics jumpsuit.

“At least that could give us some hope on finding that hose.” Shane said pointing to the rotting body.

He made his way up to the door, Juliet close behind – bat at the ready. Shane stood on one side of the door, back against the wall. He moved his head to indicate Juliet do the same. Juliet followed Shane’s lead and stood on the other side of the door, bat ready to swing. Shane took one hand and slammed it against the door three times. They both waited for a moment but did not hear any movement from inside. Shane opened the door and walked inside so fast that Juliet didn’t register his movement until the door was halfway closed again. She quickly followed him inside.

There was barely any light inside the building; a few streams of sunlight broke through the paper that was covering the large window up front. The light from the door could provide Juliet with enough light to see that the snack section had long since been picked clean. Shane handed Juliet a flashlight and tilted his head towards the far end of the shelves. He turned in his own flashlight and made his way quietly towards the back end of the store.

Juliet put the bat handle in her left hand and the flashlight in her right. She knew if she needed to swing all the power would be in her dominant hand. Inching down the isle she kept an eye down each isle she past. Juliet wanted to find that hose fast and get out of dodge before and infected decided to show up. The boots she had swapped for were hard to keep her steps silent in and she would flinch internally with every clunk of a step she couldn’t hide.

It felt like an eternity before she found herself close to the end. Juliet turned to look up the isle and saw a collection of various car parts. Having spent time with Glenn when he was learning from Dale and Jim Juliet has slightly picked up some of the lingo and could maybe find the hose needed. The isle held a lot of things she did not recognize; it was a lot of tubes of bent metal and things that could twist onto other things. Juliet could probably tell everything apart as well as Ed could lift a finger.

She frowned at that thought – the man may have been a complete asshole but he just died last night. Juliet wasn’t sure how much respect she should give an abuser who just died and decided on a neutral indifference.

There were a variety of tubes hung up on the shelving unit. They were each in their own type of packaging with various words all over to describe the type of tube contained within. Juliet was looking for something that looked familiar in anyway – or if it just said ‘van’ or ‘motorhome’ on it.

A presence came up behind her that caused Juliet to jump. A deep chuckle was heard behind her. She turned around to face Shane with a stern look on her face. “I thought I told you not to come near me like this.”

“I figured you choosing to join me was a way of you playing hard to get.” Shane rumbled.

“I said no, Shane.” Juliet glared up at him. “And that should be something you respect. I have a choice now and I get to say who I do and do not sleep with.”

“And you chose Dixon?” Juliet could almost feel the disbelief in his voice.

“The list of eligible people at the time had been small. You were not on the list to begin with.” Juliet moved off to the side to get some distance between them. “And if you recall, you happened to be with Lori at the time. Now that her husband is back I do not plan on playing second choice. I honestly don’t plan on playing at any relationship ever.” Juliet turned look back at the tubes further down the isle. “Dixon understands that. You apparently do not.”

Shane’s face turned into a scowl. “You could give me a chance to-”

“No.” Juliet turned to face him, cutting off his attempt to convince her. “I get to choose. Me. No one gets to tell me what to do anymore. Not you, not Dixon, and not some old lady at a company! I own myself and it’s going to stay that way.”

There was a pause between between them. Shane glared down at her while Juliet kept her stance. She would rather die before cowering I front of someone in this situation. She needed Shane to know he couldn’t take advantage of her.

Shane grunted and grabbed a few tubes from the wall and quickly made his way outside. It took Juliet a second to register his leaving before she followed him. The ride back was silent and Juliet could feel Shane’s anger rolling off him in waves. As soon as they got back to the others, Juliet jumped out of the Jeep and gave Dale the tubes as she passed. She made a beeline for Daryl’s truck and got inside, not moving at all until the caravan of vehicles made their way to the CDC.

Juliet didn’t like the look of it. There were barricades around the entrance with the bodies of the dead scattered around. It looked like the military outside had gotten overrun. The metal that encased the doors on the outside of the CDC were still in place but that didn’t mean anything to Juliet.

Daryl tapped her shoulder with the back of his hand. “C’mon. We gotta go.”

“ _Tabernac_. I am not going anywhere near there.” Juliet turned away from Daryl to look out the window towards the CDC.

Daryl made his way out of the truck and around the side. He grabbed his bag and Juliet’s backpack and made his way to the passenger door. He held in one had his Crossbow at the ready – with the other he opened the passenger door and pulled Juliet out of the truck, closing the door behind them. Juliet’s squaks of disapproval were the least of his worries as he pulled her along with the group. Juliet cursed her build at making her easy to manhandle.

“You said you’d give it a chance. Looking at it ain’t givin’ it no chance.” Daryl said to her quietly – making sure no one would hear. He shrugged off her bag and handed it to her. “C’mon.”

Getting to the doors had probably been more of a hassle then it was worth. From what Juliet could tell from the outside the building looked dead. That was never a good sign considering what was contained inside. It quickly became apparent to everyone else that this had been a dead end. Everyone started to argue and Juliet tried to make her way back to the vehicles, but Daryl made sure to keep her close by while watching out for those in the group without weapons.

It wasn’t until Rick started screaming at a camera did the doors open.

The group rushed inside. Inside the lobby it seemed almost otherworldly – a place that should have had people milling around and waiting; an empty front desk with no one behind it with the only thing out of place being the upturned chair. That alone sent a chill through Juliet’s spine.

“Get everything you need quickly. Once those doors shut they won’t open again.” A man said. He looked like he could be one of the scientists that worked within the building. He was holding a shotgun at the ready, pointed at the group.

Juliet tried to walk away once again, but Daryl grabbed the neckline of her shirt. She looked back at him, frustrated. He didn’t even look at her.

“The price of admission is you let me take blood samples. Otherwise you aren’t allowed in.” The scientist said.

“Yeah, sure. Alright.” Rick was quick to agree. “None of us are infected. We had a man in our group who was bit, but he couldn’t make the trip.”

Juliet turned out what was being said – keeping her eyes on the doors that were shutting. The idea that she would now be trapped in _this_ building was not something she wanted to think about.

The name of the scientist, Dr. Edwin Jenner, and that he was the only one left we’re the only two things Juliet was able to get from the conversation as the elevator made its way down to the main area and they were all crowded into what appeared to be the main computer area. Juliet couldn’t pay attention to anything that they were discussing. It was like her brain had just turned off her ability understand English and any words she heard where just gibberish. Her eyes has locked onto the clock that was counting down and she couldn’t quite look away. They had literally entered into a ticking time bomb and they had no way of escape. Juliet looked over at Carl and Sophia – both seemed happy to be inside the assumed safety of the underground bunker. Her eyes passed over Lori and Carol and saw two mothers pleased to finally have to stop running for their lives.

“Juliet.” Rick said, touching her shoulder. Juliet let out a cry of surprise and jolted away from the touch. Rick at least looked sorry that he had spooked her. “It’s your turn to get a sample taken.”

She looked over to the sight of the empty chair and the waiting Dr. Jenner. Juliet slowly made her way over to the chair to get this part over and done with.

“Not a fan of needles?” Dr. Jenner asked.

“I am just not particularly fond of being here and being trapped inside.” Juliet responded.

“Well it will all be over soon.” Jenner replied.

Juliet looked him in the eye and saw that he might have been speaking about the sample taking but it held a whole other meaning. It was the same reason Juliet couldn’t stop looking at the countdown. “I know.” She replied.

Jenner nodded and took the sample quickly. “You look very familiar, have we met before?”

“I could not say that we have.” Juliet felt her nerves tighten at the question. “I guess I just have one of those faces.”

“Perhaps.”

Jenner finished with the samples soon after, directing everyone towards the kitchen area for the food that he had left. Juliet pitched in with cooking the feast and before she knew it, the alcohol was brought out and most of the adults were drinking. Juliet decided to go all in with the drinks, taking one of the bottles of wine for herself. If this was to be her last however many hours until the clock struck zero then she would live it up to the best of her abilities. Juliet watched as the group seemed to gather together closer then before – all finally happy for the safe space. Daryl, she noticed, seemed to open up way more to everyone as they all drank. He wasn’t as cheery as the rest of the group but his playful nudging at Glenn to drink as much as he could was the first she had seen of him acting towards the others of the group in any real nicety.

And then Shane had to go and be a buzzkill.

“What happened to everyone else who was here? Where did they go?” Shane asked Jenner.

The lively chatter stoped as Jenner sighed. “We were here, working through the thick of it when it first began. We tried out best, but when the military got over run people left. They didn’t want to stay here – they wanted to be with their families. When it got worse – well. Those people ‘opted out’ you could say.”

“And that just leaves you. The lone worker.” Juliet heard a type of venom dripping in Shane’s voice. The displeasure at finding out that this choice to be here might not have been the right call. “Just you. And no Cure.”

“That is correct.” Jenner sighed.

“God man, you are such a buzzkill.” Glenn said to Shane as he slumped his head onto the table.

Jenner looked around at the group. “The living quarters shut down a while ago so you will all have to sleep here. There are couches to sleep on or cots if you need them. The showers still work but if you do use them go easy on the hot water.”

Juliet blinked a few times to clear away some of the shock. “Did he just say _hot_ water?”

The first bottle of wine had been finished before Juliet had started her way to the showers. She had stayed behind to let others in the group go first so she could make her way onto a second bottle when no one else was paying attention to the alcohol anymore. It wasn’t a fine wine – the top was a screw-on and from the label it looked like one of the ones companies would buy in bulk for a celebration at work. That exact quality is probably why there was a good few bottles left once everyone left the dining area.

Daryl came swooping in through the doorway. He swung into the room, one hand on the doorframe and the other holding a halfway full bottle of whiskey. He sauntered over to the table and swung his leg over the chair on the other side of the table from her and sat down. “I figured a priss like you would be one of the first people havin’ a go at those showers.”

“And I would assume a backwoods hick like you would be the last to speak on the subject of showering.” Juliet said as she took a casual sip from the half empty wine bottle that was left over from dinner.

Daryl snorted and kicked her leg lightly under the table. He got quiet for a moment, looking at the whiskey he was holding in his hands. “I know ya’ didn’t want to be in here in the first place. It might be dead useless for a hunter to be down here but we don’t gotta be worrying about no walkers down here.”

“I certainly do not like the thought of dying underground.” Juliet responded. She took a long swig of the bottle of wine before speaking again; unsure if she should even tell anyone about what was probably going to happen once the timer ran out. Looking at Daryl Juliet saw something she hadn’t seen from him before; His face held contentment. She didn’t want to destroy that. So she leaned into the table to talk a little quieter. “How about we both head to the showers and get clean. After that I’ll meet you in the room you chose and you can get the full fancy experience and not some quickie in the woods.”

Daryl looked up from the whiskey bottle and looked at Juliet. It was like he was trying to decide if she was messing with him or not. Juliet smirked at him; she slid out of her chair and walked over to the doorway swinging her hips a little more then usual. She flipped her hair over her shoulder as she turned her head to look behind her at Daryl. He was for sure keeping his eyes on her ass. He looked up at her face when he realized he had been caught and was met with a wink before Juliet made her way out of the dining area and towards the showers – wherever they were.

Lori would probably be the one to ask. She had been one of the first people to all but sprint to the showers. Juliet also felt like she should apologize to Lori; Juliet had been harsh to her before Rick had returned and Juliet hadn’t spent any time with her since. If anything, Juliet could probably give her a warning about Shane starting to go down the path of instability.

The door to the rec room was closed Juliet approached it. She didn’t know if Lori was still inside but Carol had pointed her in this direction when they had passed each other in the hallway. Juliet turned the knob and slowly opened the door – peeking around the door to see if anyone was still inside the room. What she saw in the room had her acting quickly out of anger.

Shane had pinned Lori to one of the tables and was trying to get her to do what they had been doing at the Quarry. Lori was having none of it and was trying to push him off, telling him to stop. Lori scratched his neck deeply but it didn’t seem to deter him.

Juliet sprinted over in her rage and jumped up on Shane, grabbing the top of his hair and pulling down as gravity dropped her. His neck went backwards and his spine arched as Juliet pulled. He dropped to the ground and Juliet got between him and Lori.

“You touch her again and I won’t hesitate Shane.” Juliet said, dropping into a defensive stance. It wasn’t a good one, but she would do what she could to stop the unstable man before her. “Get out of here.”

Shane stumbled up to stand. He gave both of them a look – one which Juliet could fully see how unhinged he had become. He turned in his anger and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Juliet turned to Lori; Lori had a hand to her mouth to cover up the sobs that had started to escape. Juliet opened her arms in an invitation – not wanting to crowd Lori right after Shane had been doing the same thing. Lori moved over and cling to Juliet as she began to sob into Juliet’s shoulder. Juliet in turn wrapped her arms around Lori in a comforting manner.

“We should tell the group.” Juliet whispered, rubbing circles into Lori’s back. “Shane’s unstable. He has been going off the deep end since Rick came to camp.”

Lori leaned back slightly and rubbed her eyes to be rid of some of the tears. “No we can’t.” She said though a shaky voice. “If we tell them what happened then Rick will know. About Shane and me. It would ruin everything.”

“Lori, he was thought to be dead. You thought he was dead. Shane _told you_ he was dead. You didn’t knowingly cheat on your husband.” Juliet said softly, gripping Lori’s shoulders. “When Rick came back you put a stop to it. It’s a tough situation but Shane is more dangerous to to group in it.”

“You can’t tell them. You _can’t._ ” Lori stepped away from Juliet, trying her best to clean up her tears. “This never happened. You say anything and I will deny it.” Lori moved passed Juliet and towards the door. “The showers are down the hall and to the right. You should probably get one.” Lori left the room with the door swinging closed behind her.

Juliet felt like she had been slapped in the face. Lori was being hard on her and Juliet hadn’t expected that. Before Rick had returned Juliet had seen Lori start to have feelings for Shane; a widow trying to come together from her broken heart for her son. It hadn’t been a well known fact that her and Shane had been a thing – but Juliet knew from her years of experience on taking note of what people desire. Lori could see her as a threat to her ‘perfect’ way of life as it was now.

This close quarters living space drama was definitely something Juliet wanted to avoid. The living areas with The Company during downtime’s had never become something that would cause any of the workers to walk on eggshells around everyone. It was the first time in a long while that Juliet missed the community of her fellow workers.

She showered quickly – wanting to spend most of her last hours doing something she enjoyed doing. Being able to choose who she spent her time with was something she wanted to fully experience before this bunker destroyed itself.

Before finding Daryl she ducked back into the kitchen to grab another wine bottle. Hedonism was the theme she was going for tonight if it was to be her last. Juliet wore a loose t-shirt and shorts; if anything, keeping up the illusion of sleepwear. She turned to walk into what she thought was Daryl’s room but stopped in her tracks.

Daryl wasn’t alone.

He sat on the couch in the room, elbows on his knees – hands holding the whiskey bottle dangling between them. He seemed to be freshly showered at the very least, but the grumpy look on his face showed his annoyance.

T-Dog, Glenn, Carol, and Jacqui were all scattered around the room drinking their own drinks, sort of sitting in a circle on the floor.

“Juliet! Come to join the party?” Glenn asked – his face was redder then she had ever believed it could get.

Juliet looked over at Daryl but he refused to meet her eyes. “I believe I am.” She said, her accent a little heavier after all the wine she had drank. “We are bothering Daryl, no? He usually doesn’t participate in the group activities.”

Carol reached a hand up and patted Daryl on the knee. “He helped get us here – he deserves to celebrate our newfound shelter as much as us.”

Making a drunken decision, Juliet made her way into the circle and sat in front of Daryl’s legs. His legs were spread so her back was able to lean against the couch and his legs were on either side of her. Carol gave her a knowing smirk but it appeared everyone else didn’t seem to notice anything. Juliet tilted her head back and looked up at Daryl. He seemed a bit confused but he wasn’t against anything that she was doing.

Everything seemed to be going fine. The group that were still set of celebrating talked seeming about nothing that really seemed to matter anymore. Juliet would join in on occasion – Daryl wouldn’t join in at all. Both of them seemed content to just exist in the moment; although as soon as everyone left she planned on jumping Daryl’s bones.

It was then that Shane came storming into the room – waving a familiar pamphlet in his hand did Juliet’s blood run cold.


	8. The Whole “Being Dead” Thing

Time seemed to freeze for Juliet. Shane stood at the doorway, pamphlet for The Company raised in his hand. She knew Daryl could feel her tense; her eyes darted around the room looking to see an easy way to escape the situation.

Everyone in the room seemed to have turned their eyes onto Shane. The way he was waving the pamphlet was like he had won a prize. “Someone’s been lying about who they are.” He accused, eyes locking into Juliet.

“Where did you get that?” Juliet spoke softly, her eyes only focused on Shane’s next moves.

“Turns put some of the Military here had been guarding some government guy. Someone who used to be important in the large scheme of things. Less so now that he’s dead.” Shane waved the pamphlet before throwing it into the circle of people in the room. “This was with his stuff.”

The pamphlet was made of a study card stock – it was the equivalent of a smallish book with visible woman posed in extremely sexual positions on the pages. They were all wearing clothes though each outfit could leave little to the imagination; the outfits each had their own theme and each woman had a page to themselves advertising their _skill set_. Juliet could vividly remember exactly what her page was.

Juliet reached for the pamphlet as fast as she could, trying to get to it before anyone else in the circle could. Carol got to it first and began to casually flip through it.

“Some people just had too much money to spend it on nothing meaningful.” She said as she casually flipped through the pages, not really taking the time to read any. “I can’t even imagine why some of these girls would stoop so low as to do this sort of – Oh.”

Carol stopped on a page, and then looked directly over at Juliet. Juliet closed her eyes to avoid the looks the group would start to give her.

The imagine of her page flashed to the forefront of her mind. She was wearing a pentagram harness that took the place of a bra and a barely there loose silk tank top that was low cut and stopped a little ways below her breasts. A leather miniskirt that could barely be considered a skirt wrapped around her lower end and she had a visible garterbelt holding up the pair of torn thigh high stockings. The shoes were leather and high heels – a pair of platform like heels with a design that looked like they would be unable to be walked in. The information on the side not only advertised the things she could provide and what she would do but it also pointed out in fairly noticeable way _that she was available for both men and women._

She opened her eyes and looked to Shane. He held a sneer directly at Juliet. “You were never who you said you were. Is Juliet even your real name?”

The pamphlet had changed hands at this point and it looked like it was going to get passed around like a hot potato. Juliet didn’t want to be in the room to be outed for two different things in her life. The end of the world was supposed to have freed her from her past, not brought it back up in the middle of a room filled with drunken Christians in the middle of the Bible Belt.

Juliet stood up and ran out of the room. She had to brush by Shane to do so and she felt his smugness spilling off of him in waves.

The hallway was empty and Juliet didn’t care where her feet took her as long as it was away from everyone. Shane was such a _dick_ ; it was like when she was in school before The Company swooped in – some snot nosed kid just had to prove that they were better then her and outted her to the whole populace. Well, The Company wasn’t here to help anymore and Juliet was trapped in this underground death trap with no way out. She couldn’t even fight back with her information on Shane without dragging Lori into it. No one would believe her now – Shane would say that Juliet was the one to entice him; that it was all her plan to start conflict within the group to gain the power of being attached to the ‘leader’ of the group – to play the ‘innocent schoolgirl’ act against her.

She didn’t pay attention to the turns she was taking but when the tears started to blur her vision Juliet ducked into the nearest empty room. Closing the door behind her she placed her back against the door and sunk to the floor – finally letting out the tears that had built up as she had made her escape. The harsh sobs shook her body as Juliet curled in on herself looking to get any sort of comfort and emotions she had long since forgotten came exploding from her chest.

Everything she had been keeping down decided to come up in one fell swoop. Her parents death she had little to no time to grieve for, all the things The Company had moulded he into, all her choices for her future being ripped away, and all the emotions of being outted – _again_ – bubbling out of her throat in one harsh slam. This, if nothing else, was what would kill her today. In her pain Juliet made a choice; she would stay here in isolation until this place destroyed itself. She would meet her end alone like she had imagined – finally being able to see her parents again.

She was unsure how much time had passed before there was a soft knock on the door. Juliet sucked in air and tried to quiet her sobs. She was left with soft whimpers escaping her from her breathing. It was silent for a moment before another soft knock hit the door.

“I know you’re in there, I can hear you.” Daryl’s gruff voice said softly from the other side of the door. “Shane got no right doin’ what he did.” Juliet let out a deep, watery breath – wiping all the traces of crying from her face as best she could. “I ain’t no good with words. Could you let me in?”

Juliet wasn’t so sure if she should.

But he had tracked her down somehow after her hasty escape so she figure he at least could speak to her face to face. Juliet stood, rubbing her hands over her face a few times to clear it from the tears and trying not to think about how red and puffy her face probably was at the moment and opened the door slightly to look out at Daryl. He stood with his hands in his pockets and seemed to be looking anywhere but at Juliet. “I’m only letting you in because I honestly consider you a friend and if you decide to be a dick about anything that just happened I can and will find somewhere else to go hide.”

Daryl nodded and Juliet opened the door a little wider to let him in. She closed it behind her once Daryl was inside the room. She hadn’t noticed when she had ducked inside that there had been little to no furniture inside the room itself. There was a rug on the floor and a few tables with scattered papers on them; chairs had been stacked against a far wall. Juliet say herself onto the floor in one swift motion and watched Daryl pace. When he noticed she had settled down on the floor he looked between Juliet and the rest of the room before joining her on the rug. He placed a bag he had been holding in front of her and it took Juliet a second to realize it was _her_ bag.

“Figured you might want it, considering’.” Daryl seemed to want to look anywhere but at her.

“ _Merci beaucoup,_ Daryl. Thank you I… do not know what to say.” Juliet replied, bringing her bag closer. “I know I promised you a night you wouldn’t forget but I think that specific ship has sailed. After Shane… I do not think I could do much tonight.”

He waved off her gratitude. “Ain’t nothin’. If I had something I didn’t want told to the group told I would be bashin’ heads. It may be end times but privacy’s still a thing.”

Juliet nodded, taking the following silence to look at Daryl. He still seemed to be avoiding looking at her. “Not to offend, but you seem to be taking the news of my Bisexuality better then I would have thought.”

“Yer what?” He asked, locking his eyes unto hers.

“Bisexuality. It means I like both men and women.” Juliet paused to see if she could read Daryl’s face. She couldn’t seem to get a good read. “It was the only new information you could have learned from that pamphlet because you already knew I was a whore.”

“I knew you were a fancy whore. Don’t sell yourself short.” He said lightly, nudging her gently with his elbow. “Didn’t realize that when you told me people at camp were ‘too straight to fool around with’ that it meant you were a…” Daryl trailed off.

“Queer? Homo? Dyke?” Juliet watched Daryl look away from her. “I appreciate your lack of slurs in this moment and I will not leave to hide elsewhere just yet.” She reached out and patted his knee. Juliet drew back and they fell into another silence. Taking a look at Daryl as he sat there, she wasn’t quite sure what to make of him. She hadn’t thought he, of all people, would come and see her after her past had been leaked to the group. Being a whore was one thing – being gay was another.

His face, to Juliet, looked like he was working up a way to say something but couldn’t seem to find the words. “If you want to say anything you can.” Juliet said, “This room is now a safe space and anything said here will be taken to the grave.” Juliet did a X motion over her heart. “Besides – we are both pretty wasted. That’s the best time to get something off your chest that’s been bottling up.”

The silence stretched on for what felt like an eternity. The entire world seemed to slow down as Daryl decided wether or not he was going to say something. The lack of a judgement call due to all the alcohol seemed to weaken his resolve as he let out a barely there whisper. “I think I might be like you.”

Juliet saw his face crumble at speaking the words out loud. She could see him fully baring his soul at her; baring his soul for what was probably the first time in his life. Juliet would not let this moment end in hurt.

She reached forward and grabbed his face in her hands bringing her lips to his in a tender kiss. They had never kissed before, not once during the whole time the both of them had been going wild in the woods at the Quarry, and Juliet tried to pour all her feelings into the action. Kissing had never been part of any of her contracts with The Company and had been frowned upon but she remembered from when she had been in school – the stolen kisses and sweet nothings spoken between two young teens in love.

Her hips moved to straddle Daryl to get into a more comfortable position as the kiss continued. He kissed her back and she could feel his need for acceptance; his arms wrapping around her middle in a tight embrace holding onto her as if she was his only lifeline in a world of terror.

They broke apart and Juliet leaned her forehead against his. She spoke to him in a soft voice. “I do not know your past and I do not know your future but you are accepted and perfect for who you are.” She kept one had on the side of his face and the other moved down to hold him by the back of the neck lightly. “You are not wrong or broken or any hurtful thing you were told in the past. You are strong and perfect just the way you are.”

Daryl seemed to cling to her tighter as she spoke. He moved his head to rest where her shoulder met her neck; Juliet brought the hand she had on his face to comb through his hair. He didn’t seem to want to say anymore and Juliet wasn’t surprised. Daryl had never been the talkative type and this was a bombshell that would have never been released if events didn’t happen as they did and they weren’t both piss drunk.

“My mother told me that the day I was outted at school. The kids had thrown rocks at me and called me every name under the sun. She held me until I felt better. Her and my father were killed that night.” Juliet tilted her face a bit to gently place a kiss to Daryl’s head. “I am here for you – as long as I can be. Your secret is safe with me.”

Daryl pulled back and looked at her in the eyes. Juliet saw a deep sadness held within them; some of hurt that seemed to keep festering and infecting and coming back in new ways. She wanted to do nothing more then to heal his pain in any way that she could.

Their lips crashed together – both diving in for the target at the same time. This kiss was more passionate then the first; backed by a need they both felt deep inside them. Daryl fell back onto the floor, Juliet following him from above. His hands roamed up her torso under her shirt, lifting the fabric up as they went. They broke apart for only a moment so Juliet’s shirt could be removed completely. Juliet followed his lead and started to unbutton his shirt – not thinking about removing it but more focused on running her hands over his chest. If Daryl wanted to remove his shirt fully he could do so himself.

Juliet was more focused on kissing Daryl then she was anything else so when she was flipped over onto her back with Daryl above her she let out a soft breathe of surprise. Neither of them wanted to break contact; Daryl keeping his balance over Juliet as he took off her shorts. Juliet’s hands slid from his chest down to his pants and undid the button and zipper that held his jeans together. He lowered his pants enough in order to be able to get his dick out but didn’t remove them further. Juliet was used to the men she slept with not removing much while she was completely naked so it didn’t bother her – he had already become more vulnerable in the past few minutes then she had seen him before and she wasn’t going to push for anything more.

One hand held him up while they made out like horny teenagers while the other gently caressed her groin to make sure she would be ready for him. Before Daryl can continue, Juliet rolls them both over and straightens up. She gets up on her knees, adjusting herself; Juliet sinks down onto him and slides him into place. Daryl’s hands slide up her thighs and rest on her hips as Juliet starts to move.

She has been the one in control a scattered few times – mostly the men and women who have all the power and control in their regular lives who needed someone to take control of them. Between her and Daryl, however, it had always been Daryl taking charge. This moment shared between them was different from all their previous couplings; it was a shared moment of trust. She moved her hips expertly, making sure Daryl didn’t have to do any sort of movement himself.

He looked at Juliet with a look she had never seen him give before – it was more open then she had ever seen him look. His focus was on her, watching her move, taking him inside herself repeated; Juliet’s breasts were small but he seemed focused on them as they bounced with her movement.

Juliet picked up the pace as she felt herself getting closer to her release. She leaned forward and pressed her hand onto his chest to keep her balance as she frantically because to grind themselves together. Daryl kept one hand on Juliet’s hip as she picked up the pace and brought the other to her sensitive nub to help her chase her release. As she let go her hips stuttered as her insides clenched and Daryl was quick to follow.

She rolled herself off of his chest and onto the floor next to Daryl, exhausted. Watching Daryl out of the side of her eye she saw him stand up and readjust himself into his clothes. As he made his way to the door, Juliet grabbed the blanket she had stashed in her bag to cover herself as he made his way to the door. Rolling over onto her side she wrapped herself in the blanket and closed her eyes. Honestly, she hadn’t thought Daryl would stay behind after their romp. Their past few trists had given Juliet the experience to know that Daryl wasn’t one that hung around. It shouldn’t have stung like it did to watch him start to leave the room but the moment they had shared had felt so much rawer then anything Juliet had ever experienced before – no client had ever connected with her in such a way. Her clinical detachment of the act of sex had never included her emotions and these wires crossing was something Juliet decided to not think about.

If she got out of the CDC alive she could put effort into thinking about what was going on with her emotions.

The door clicked and Juliet braced herself to be in the room alone. Footsteps moved from the door towards Juliet and she felt a weight settle down next to her.

“You gonna share that blanket or what?” Daryl huffed. Juliet turned her head to look at him with surprise in her eyes. He looked at her for a moment before turning his head away from her. “To drink to go anywhere else.”

Juliet smiled up at him, unwrapping herself from the blanket cocoon that surrounded her. While Daryl settled into their spot of the floor Juliet stood up. Daryl narrowed his eyes at her for a moment and she waved a hand in his direction. “If you are dressed I will also be dressed.” Juliet gathered her clothes that had been tossed away in the heat of the moment when she noticed a side room that hadn’t been in her focus before. Sticking her head inside the room her face broke out into a smile.

“What are you doin’?” Daryl asked.

“I found _une toilette_. I will quickly be back. I do not wish to get a UTI in the apocalypse.” Juliet moved inside the side room to relieve herself and get dressed.

Juliet finished up and made her way back into the room. She flopped herself onto the ground beside Daryl and inched her way under the blanket he had spread out so they could share. He was looking up at the ceiling with his hands locked behind his head. Juliet shuffled in and pressed herself against his side, using his chest as a pillow. He brought one of his arms down to wrap around her while the other kept his hand behind his head.

They settled quickly – silence following as the two lay in the room, taking in the other’s existence in this moment.

Juliet wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep but when she awoke she was alone. Trying to catch the sound of movement within the room was useless – all that she could hear was the humming of the cool air coming in from the vent in the ceiling.

Deciding to avoid the majority of the group, Juliet stayed within the room. She knew she would have to face them at some point but at the moment she didn’t want to look at anyone in the eye now that they knew what her profession had been.

In the Old World, how it had been Before, Juliet hadn’t cared what others had thought about what she did. She hadn’t had time for friends outside of those who worked for The Company. Anyone who had judged her on her looks, profession, or sexuality were never around long enough for it to matter. But these people, this whole _group_ , had become something that Juliet had never really had before – a community.

She grabbed a protein bar that was in her bag for something to eat for now. As she ate and got ready for what could be her final day Juliet tried to think about anything other then how she felt after last night with Daryl. Juliet couldn’t be sure of the time exactly since they were underground but figured ‘last night’ would be what she called it as she had just woken up from sleep.

The last time she had felt like this had been with a girl at The Company during their training. Her name was Rory Greene and she had the most beautiful eyes that Juliet had ever seen. Rory was a tall beauty – slender, and could walk a runway better then any model would ever be able to. Rory’s hair was kissed by fire and held curls that could make a spring look flat. Juliet fell fast and hard; the two of them snuck around the strict teachers and rules to enjoy what little time they had before they fully joined the roster of girls for The Company.

They got caught and were punished severely before being sent to separate teaching schools across the country to keep them apart. Juliet never saw Rory again.

Juliet knew that these feelings could very well lead to a disaster down the road. She figured they were probably bubbling up again because she was finally making choices for herself again after years of being told what to do by The Company. Following orders and being detached emotionally was something Juliet could do in a heartbeat – looking down the barrel of her emotions and dealing with them mixed with making her own decisions was something new to her. Even when she had joined the group to begin with; everyone had tasks that needed to be done so the collective could thrive. That didn’t leave much wiggle-room for freedom of choice.

There wasn’t much for Juliet to do while she waited for the inevitable. She got changed – her mother would kill her again if Juliet passed on to the other side wearing pyjamas. Juliet moved about in room to make an area for her to relax in with the various stacked chairs; her only company in the room the sound of the air passing through the vents until that too became silent. Sitting in the dark Juliet prepared herself for what was to come. The thought to gather with the others crossed her mind but she didn’t want to see the faces of Carl and Sophia when they realized what would be happening. Their faces were too young and innocent to be twisted by the eminent demise that would soon be facing them.

Seeing Shane’s face when he realized the mistake it was to even be inside the building would be something she would like to see.

It might have been Rick’s idea to come here, but Shane had backed the decision. Shane had brought the woman he thought he loved and her child to their doom and watching that pass through him would be a final stab that felt too good to pass up after what he had done. His guilt would get her though to the other side while he would be trapped in his own guilt and destruction for eternity. Juliet grabbed her bag and made her way towards the main room with all the computers. The others would probably congregate there as the clock ticked down to zero, begging Jenner to tell them what it means.

Joining the group in their final moment could bless her for spending what little time they had left with Daryl. Her emotions may be confusing Juliet but she could give in to them for a small moment at the end.

When she got to the hallway that lead to the main room all she saw at the end was a shit metal door with the sounds of banging against it. Juliet ran up to the door and started to knock against it.

“Hello? Are you guys in there?” Juliet yelled, unsure if her voice would carry through the metal of the door.

The banging on the door paused before a voice responded back. “Juliet! Jenner sealed us inside and won’t let us out! Is there anything on that side of the door to open it?”

The voice was feminine but the door distorted the voice so Juliet couldn’t quite tell who it belonged to. She looked around the wall on the outside of the door before yelling back. “It does not appear so. The computers must control the _mécanisme_. You will have to get Jenner to open it from the inside.”

Juliet didn’t hear any response. She moved to lean her back against the wall next to the door. It appeared whatever beings of the universe decided that she would meet her end alone; the isolation from the group that had been thrust upon her as of last night because of Shane would be the universe’s last laugh on her. Juliet closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh, the pounding of the metal doors becoming all she could hear.

Time seemed to slow when the doors opened and Daryl was the first one out – grabbing Juliet by the arm and dragging her to follow him at a quick pace. Everything seemed to happen in a blur as the group, lead by Daryl, made their way into the front lobby. It was only then that Daryl let go of Juliet’s arm as he raced to the front window to try and break the glass to no effect.

She watched, despondent, as just about everyone tried to desperately break their way out of this death trap they had walked into. These were the emotions that Juliet did not want to see on their faces – why she had decided to be left alone in a room before her need for revenge took over. Juliet glanced over at Shane as he brought a shotgun towards the glass to try and break it; she looked away and kept her empty gaze forward, not wanting to see the unbreakable glass first hand.

Out of the corner of her eye, Juliet saw Carol rush forward to Rick. The frantic pounding on the glass stopped as everyone but Rick ran back away from the glass. Juliet looked at everyone confused as they made their way to hide behind something before she was tucked under Daryl’s arms a few seconds before the loud blast went off.

With a way now open for escape everyone grabbed what they could and made a break for the cars before the dead took notice of where the sound had come from. Daryl pulled Juliet along with him and she didn’t protest; she was far too distant to process what exactly was happening in what felt like a fever dream of hope that would come crashing down at the last moment before she would die. Daryl made it to the truck and opened the side door shoving Juliet inside first before following close behind her – close enough to that he just jump over top of her and closed the door behind him.

The second blast from the CDC going up in flames had Daryl doing the same covering technique from before; trying to shield Juliet from any debris from the blasts. He wasted no time once the aftershock from the blast had settled before climbing across Juliet fully and situating himself in the drivers seat. He brought the truck into gear quickly and peeled out of the parking spot behind Shane and his Jeep as they made their was away from the loud noise.

Juliet watched everything pass by in a haze. She kept her eyes focused forward but knew nothing she saw was registering in her brain. Shane’s Jeep sputtered and came to a stop, Walkers circling the open top car. Shane jumped out as fast as he could and made a sprint for the RV ahead of him. Daryl swerved around the Jeep and kept following, making no move to stop and help Shane. Juliet lunched before she could think and started to slam on the horn of the truck.

Daryl took one hand off the wheel and pushed her off of him. “What do you think you’re doin’ woman? Gonna get us killed!”

“If we don’t signal the others Shane will be!” Juliet pushed past Daryl to slam on the horn again, but he took action before she could. He started yelling out the window and slamming on the horn himself – the RV taking notice and slowing down enough that Shane could hop on before the train of vehicles speed away from the destruction of the CDC.

A few minutes into the drive Juliet decided that the side glares Daryl was giving her needed to stop. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Why’d you want to save Shane?” He shot back.

Juliet huffed and ran her hands through her hair. “He’s a dick. An outrageous douche who pretty much destroyed the life I was trying to live after everything went pear shaped but I can’t just ignore him and leave him to die.” Juliet avoided looking at Daryl. “I wanted to see his face when he realized we were all going to die down there. In the CDC. I wanted to see his reality crashing down around him like he had done to me. But we got out – some how – and I don’t think I can stomach making the choice on who lives and who dies.”

They didn’t speak for the rest of the drive. Juliet wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.

They arrived at an old run down area that, from the looks of it, had been in pretty bad shape even before the world had gone to shit. Rick started to give out instructions and Juliet mainly focused on grabbing her bags from Daryl’s truck. Juliet could piece together from the conversations between the others that this was some kind of location of another bunch of people who were supposed to be on good terms with Rick and a few others. From what she could tell, Daryl was pretty pleased with the turn of events, poking a little fun at Rick for something Juliet didn’t know about.

Seeing all the dead laying about when they arrived in the main area wasn’t something anybody in the group had been expecting.

Carol and Lori made sure Carl and Sophia didn’t have to see the horror of the yard as best they could. Juliet could see that Andrea looked shocked at the carnage before them. The men of the group who had weapons rushed forward when Rick fired the first shot – taking out the Walkers that were milling about outside. Everyone made their way inside quickly. Juliet hung to the back of the group as they made their way to an area the could secure in the building. She watched Daryl lash out at Sophia and Carol for Sophia milling too much noise. The need for safety in the mess of what the rest of this day had been turning into outweighed the need that sprung up inside Juliet to throttle Daryl into next week for speaking to them like that.

The group entered an area that could be well enough protected once the door was sealed. Juliet made sure everyone had gotten inside before shutting the door behind them and starting to board it up with whatever she could find. A few of the others joined in when Rick asked them to help secure the area while he and a few others went to scope out the rest of the building.

It was mainly the women and children left behind at the door; Dale stayed behind as well as a form of added protection. Juliet looked at how few of them were left at this point – wondering if it might have been better to be left behind in the CDC. All of them huddled together, pressed against the door they had barricaded, hoping against hope that they could at least be safe here for a night before they would move on.

Those scouting came back after what felt like hours and gathered everyone into a larger room. The room looked like it was probably the day room of the retirement home; morbid as the older folks that were laying around were no longer part of the living world.

Juliet eyed the gunshot wounds on the bodies nearest to her. None of the dead looked like they had turned before they had been shot and all of the killing blows seemed to be from a single gunshot to the head. That didn’t bode well for anything in Juliet’s books. The Company had worked with people on both sides of the law and had their own ways of dealing with people on the wrong side of the law. Juliet had been a favourite among a few crime lords and mafia leaders before and had seen some things going down in the heat of the moment that she wished she hadn’t been a witness to. Looking at all these people, laying dead where they fell, looked more like a hit then anything. A chill cling to Juliet’s spine as she sent a quick hope off in her mind that she wouldn’t have to stay in this building for long.

“We cleared out a few rooms upstairs. They’ll be out best bet for the night and we’ll be able to barricade the doors from there if we need to.” Rick said, standing in the centre of the group. “We’ll be alright.”

“Is that true or are you just lying to us again.” Carol said, bitterly. Sophia sat in her mother’s lap and look more scared then Juliet had seen her look before.

“That’s unfair, and no help at all.” Lori sighed from her position next to Carol.

Carol looked up at Lori. “We are all scared here. Rick’s last idea of safe almost killed all of us. I’d like to know we are safe, at least for tonight, from another horde of Walkers roaming in and –” Carol stopped mid sentence and buried her head into Sophia’s neck; a mother clinging to the daughter she almost lost.

“This wasn’t Walkers.” Juliet said quietly.

Andrea scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Like a whore would know what happened here. They were clearly overrun.”

Juliet recoiled as is she had been slapped. Andrea hadn’t been in the room for Shane’s big reveal but someone had clearly informed her. Jacqui was the most likely – the two of them had been friends; she had probably found Andrea after and told her everything in hopes of brightening Andrea’s mood.

Daryl scoffed at Andrea, shaking his head.

“What, you’ve got something to say?” Andrea asked, clearly ready to pick a fight.

“Yeah. How ‘bout observant.” Daryl said, taking a step towards Andrea.

Andrea scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Observant? Big word for a guy like you. Three whole syllables.”

“Walkers didn’t do this. Geeks didn’t show up until all this already happened. Somebody rolled up and attacked this place – killed everyone and took whatever they wanted.” Daryl indicated to the dead body closest to him on the floor. “Shot everyone in the head execution style. You all worried about Walkers? I’d be much more worried about whoever did all this.” He straightened his crossbow on his back before looking over at Andrea. “Get a dictionary. Look it up. _Observant_.” Daryl pointed at his head before making his way off out of the room.

It took longer then it could have for everyone to get settled in one of the rooms upstairs. It was decided that they would all stay in one room for the night so if anything happened they would all be in one room. Juliet wasn’t sure how she felt about staying in a single room with the whole group after everything that had happened in the past forty-eight hours. She tried to keep to herself as much as she could, not wanting to talk to anyone in the group in case they wanted to talk to her about the information they had found out about her inside the CDC. It wasn’t until Shane and Rick had come back with a single can of beans did she do anything towards anyone in the group.

Juliet moved her duffle bag closer to her as she reached in and started to pull out two different cans (both had no label, but written across them in sharpie was the word _PEACHES_ ) and handed them to Daryl so he could open them. Juliet turned back to dig in her bag as Shane spoke up.

“I have these snacks – I took them from the CDC. Thought they would be more of a midnight snack, didn’t think they would be dinner.” Shane started to toss the packs around at everyone in the group; Daryl made sure to keep himself in between Shane and Juliet and took the pack meant for her. “And – uh. The last item.” Shane said, taking out a bottle of wine from his bag.

“That to share?” Daryl asked, looking between the bottle and Shane.

“Seeing as you saved my life and all?” Shane offered to bottle over to Daryl. “I figure I should be nicer to you from now on.”

“Nicer to _us_.” Daryl corrected. “Juliet’s the one who noticed your ass running for the hills. Nearly hit me with her right hook when she dove for the horn.” Daryl uncorked the bottle and offered it to Juliet first. She took one look at it and shook her head, more focused on finding things in her bag.

Shane looked away ashamed. Lori looked at the three of them from the other side of the room by Rick. “You take it easy on that - don’t forget where we are.”

“Yes ma’am.” Daryl said – his tone laced with respect.


	9. Nothing to No One

The night started to creep in soon after everyone had finished eating. Andrea was clearly filled with aggression towards the group, mostly focused on Dale; she would lash out if anyone asked or said anything directly at her or would offer a snide remark if a piece of conversation wasn’t quite directed at her. Juliet focused on keeping herself as separate from the group as much as possible. She shrunk into the shadows by the wall and folded into herself to try and make herself as small as possible as to avoid anyone noticing her.

The men swapped out every few hours to take watch – they didn’t bother asking any of the women if they wanted to take a watch or two (which to Juliet seemed like if everyone took a watch more people could get a decent nights sleep). It must have been late into the night as Daryl was taking his turn on watch – everyone who could have slept the whole night also seemed to have settled down. Sophia has seemed to take the longest with how scared she had been. Juliet didn’t blame her; Sophia was young, around Carl’s age, and had to deal with so much bullshit already before the world went to shit as well. Juliet could sympathize.

She lay awake, unable to fall asleep without someone she could trust to watch her back in the room. Juliet didn’t feel safe with the whole group now knowing her secret; it didn’t help that Shane was asleep across the room. Juliet didn’t notice Carol shuffling over with a asleep Sophia in her arms until Carol was right next to her.

“Now might not be the best time,” Carol whispered softly, “but you know you can talk to me about the other night when you’re ready.”

Juliet looked at Carol with barely contained surprise. “I thought you would not want anything to do with me.”

Carol shrugged. “You’ve been so good with Sophia and helping me with Ed when everyone else seemed to ignore it – up until that big fight at the Quarry.” Carol reached out and took Juliet’s hand. “I’m not going to assume anything about your past like you didn’t assume about mine.”

Juliet squeezed Carol’s hand, both of them soon falling into a sleep to join the rest of the group.

The day began almost too soon. Juliet jolted awake around the first sign of movement of the last watch coming into the room. She curled into herself when Shane lumbered about as he woke up for the day. It was decided that the first action of the day was that in order to save on fuel the group was to cut down on vehicles and take the fuel from those left behind – which meant Daryl was losing his truck in favour of Merle’s bike.

That wasn’t exactly something Juliet was comfortable with.

The only other car was Rick’s car which was already packed to the brim with parents and children. Daryl was on his motorcycle which might end up being dangerous in the long run with her on the back of it. The final option was the RV – with at least a sixty percent chance of the people inside hating/disliking her. It was a certain twenty percent, Shane and Andrea, who seemed to dislike her the most after Shane’s big reveal of the supposed ‘fox in the henhouse’ routine. Juliet gathered her bags and hopped into the RV placing her things in the foot space of the passenger seat and then jumping into the seat herself so she would be next to Dale during the drive. Dale has looked at her in sympathy when Andrea had lashed out in the day room which lead Juliet to believe he at least was okay with her past; it didn’t change the fact that Andrea was also someone he felt connected to in a similar way to Juliet so he wasn’t going to go around picking favourites.

Silence was the main conversation inside the RV. Almost everyone seemed defeated because they had to pick up and find another area where we could live in safety. Juliet wasn’t sure if the decision on Fort Benning was a sound one but she didn’t want to anger Shane again in any way. She was sure Shane was teetering the line of instability and Juliet didn’t want to be the one to push him onto one side of the other. The idea had crossed Juliet’s mind to mention one of The Company’s locations now that the group knew what her previous profession had been but squashed it immediately. Going back to The Company could result in her becoming one of their pawns again – especially if they were somehow still trying to run their business in this mess (and Juliet wouldn’t put it past them if they were). Society as Juliet knew it might have been destroyed beyond repair at the moment but The Company has failsafes and fallbacks for everything – even the end of the world.

That helicopter probably would have never come for her; Grandmama was probably too focused on changing up how everything worked to even bother sending a rescue. It wasn’t like Juliet was a top asset – she had been more of a novelty among the standard girls that someone could choose from. She was one of the top hired novelties, but a novelty none the less who would be less important then the others; Juliet knew Grandmama wouldn’t even blink if an asset needed to be dropped in favour of keeping The Company on top.

Juliet sported Daryl driving ahead of the RV on his (brother’s) motorcycle. He had discussed leaving the group with her before; a tactic Juliet knew still was mainly focused on the aspect of ‘better survival’ then actually any interest in her as a person. He seemed content to stay with the group for now and Juliet supposed it was because he had no leads on to where his brother had gone off to. Juliet was glad Daryl, at the very least, still seemed to want to stick around her. That night in the CDC had been something different and he seemed to act like it hadn’t effected him the same way Juliet felt it had her. She would have to keep pushing down her feelings until they went away in an attempt to use her training in avoiding emotion attachments with a repeat client.

There was currently more important things that needed to be thought of instead of feelings.

The time passed by at a crawl as they made their way down the highway. It wasn’t until they made it to a traffic snarl that the RV made a decision for them. As they made their way through what they could of the mass of empty cars just left on the road the RV let out a loud hiss and a plume if steam. It clanked and sputtered, slowing to a halt. Dale quickly shut off the power and got off the RV, making his way towards the front where the engine was housed.

“If I said it once I said it a million times. Dead in the water.” Dale said, grabbing his hat off his head in frustration.

“Problem Dale?” Shane asked, as if he didn’t notice the fact that the RV he had been on had broken down.

“Oh just the small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of – okay that was dumb.” Dale said, looking around at the vehicles surrounding them.

Shane shifted to have his weight on one foot. “If you can’t find a radiator hose here…” he trailed off.

Daryl, who had been picking through an open trunk while everyone had gathered, spoke. “There’s a lot of things we can find here.”

“Siphon some gas out of these cars for a start.” T-dog said, making his way past Daryl.

“Maybe some water. And food.” Carol said as she held Sophia close.

“This is a graveyard.” Lori insisted. Everyone stopped to turn to look at her for a moment.

“You want them to have a good, Christian, burial?” Juliet asked, a little heated. “Head to the west, feet to the east? Not cremated because it stops the resurrection?” Juliet looked to face Lori and saw a shocked look on her face. “They have already started the resurrection – least we could do is have their earthly positions so we can continue to live.” Juliet stormed off, away from the group and into the mass of vehicles surrounding them.

Juliet had her backpack with her as she made her way into the vehicles. She stopped at one and started digging through the car – it was a black car that looked like it had seen better days. The two front seats had a zebra print cover and the back seat had a nice looking blanket covering the bottom half. Juliet took the blanket and shoved it into her bag and then saw why the blanket had been on the seat; the bottom of the back seat had a bunch of unidentifiable stains. Juliet crinkled her nose at it. At the bottom of the passenger side were two opened water bottles that were half filled water bottles. Juliet opened the bottles and poured the rest of one into the other, thankful that it was enough to fit in a single bottle. She put that in her backpack as well. As she continued to dig around in the car, she found a few hidden spots inside. Most held only a few things of car tech or small knickknacks that were useless in today’s world. There was a section that held a small ziplock bag with several self rolled cigarettes. Juliet opened the bag and sniffed the contents. They smelled a little bit like pine trees and hint of skunk. Juliet smirked and shoved the bag into her pocket for later. She took the lighter she spied sitting in the cup holders before moving on.

A few cars down Juliet was able to gather up a few granola bars and a few old candy bars that were probably more melted then actual candy. Juliet was at a truck a few cars down from the RV when she could a large ziplock bag of Skittles. She smiled to herself, thankful that at least she could still find her favourite sweet; lucky that none of them seemed to be stuck together like she feared the candy bars to be. In the centre of the console there was a large pocket knife – Juliet grabbed that to make sure she had her own weapon to protect herself with.

She was zipping up her bag when she felt hands grip her shoulders and pull her down to the ground. Juliet looked over and saw Rick sliding under the truck; without question Juliet was quick to follow. It wasn’t a second later that the groans of the dead became clear to all that could hear nearby.

Juliet hid next to Rick as close as she could get. The feet shuffling by on the outside of the truck making her want to hide further underneath the little cover they had. Rick was laying on his back holding his rifle to his chest and Juliet was on her side pressed up against him. The space was smaller then one of the delivery trucks Juliet had glanced at while she had been searching for supplies and She hoped Lori wouldn’t hold anything against her.

It seemed to take forever for the massive group of Walkers to pass. Juliet stayed where she was until she was sure that the herd had passed. She locked eyes with Rick for a moment; a shared look of fear – if not for themselves then for the group they were with. Juliet started to inch away from Rick, looking away from his face. Most of the shuffling and groaning had passed so Juliet started to slowly move out from under the truck.

But that all changed when the screaming started.

Juliet could tell that the person who was screaming was Sophia. Her movements went from slow to the fastest she had ever moved – Juliet was sprinting after Sophia before Rick could even get himself out from under the car.

“Sophia!” Juliet called out, chasing after the young girl. The Walkers has a hard time getting over road barrier so Juliet was able to pass by them and get closer to Sophia.

Rick was quick to follow once he was up on his feet. He picked up Sophia and grabbed Juliet’s hand in one quick movement, pulling them in towards the creek. Rick placed Sophia in a alcove in the wall of the creek the was covered by roots and shoved Juliet in after Sophia.

“I’m gonna draw them off. I want you to wait here until they’re gone. Wait for me to come back but if I don’t head back the way we came – keep the sun over your left shoulder.” Rick said in a harsh whisper.

“Why can’t you shoot them?” Sophia asked, panicked.

“I shoot them the noise will bring all those Walkers on the highway right back onto us. I gotta get ‘em quiet. Juliet will protect you.” Rick said.

Juliet grabbed Sophia and pulled her into her arms, tucking the girl into her chest. Rick nodded before moving away from them and making a lot of noise in the water. The Walkers turned to follow him off into the forest. Juliet and Sophia waited for a moment until the Walkers were out of sight before they made their way out from behind the roots. Sophia grabbed Juliet’s hand and pulled her along in the direction they had come from.

They walked for a little bit – taking it a little slower then when Sophia had first made her way into the woods. They got to a certain point before they stopped. Sophia looked up at Juliet a little confused.

“I don’t remember where to go from here.” Sophia said softly.

Juliet looked around, cursing her lack of direction. “I am unsure as well.” Juliet looked around the area, spinning a bit to see where they had come from to the areas they had yet to go. She looked on the ground to see if there were any footprints that they could follow but Juliet was no Daryl and all she could see was the dirt on the ground. “What did Rick say? Where did we need to keep the sun?”

“The right, I think.” Sophia supplies. “He said to keep the sun to our right.”

Juliet nodded, keeping Sophia’s hand in hers. They turned so that the sun was on their right side and made their way through the woods. Juliet just hoped they were going in the right direction.

When Rick made it back to the highway, with no Sophia or Juliet in sight, his face felt like it caved in. “They’re not here? They didn’t make it back?”

Carol turned to sob into Lori, Lori gripping her tight.

“You left Sophia with Juliet? To find their way back on their own?” Daryl asked, anger simmering in his voice. “Juliet can barely tell her left from right – she got lost more in the woods back at the Quarry just going to piss then Glenn went into the city for supplies.”

“Show us where they were when you left ‘em. I’m sure we can find ‘em before nightfall.” Shane said.

Rick turned back into the forest followed closely by Daryl. Shane and Glen joined the search as well in case any of the Walkers from the road decided to wander into the woods. They made it to the alcove that Rick had put them in before running off with the Walkers. Daryl that it was empty and started to try and focus on any path the two girls would have left. He ignored whatever talk the three other men in favour of trying to find the two tracks he needed.

“You mind movin’?” Daryl directed at Glenn, “You’re mucking up the trail with all that movin’.”

Daryl pushes past Glenn and kept an eye on the footprints. Juliet’s were light – they always had been back at the Quarry. This time she was wearing heavier shoes then those barely there ones she had before so her tracks were still fairly well imprinted in the dirt. Sophia’s were smaller but held a distinct pattern because of the type of sneaker she was wearing. They followed the path as best they could before it stopped heading towards the highway and went off in a different direction.

“They were heading along fine right until here. Then it stops and goes off that way.” Daryl said, pointing off to the right.

“I don’t understand.” Rick said, “I told them to keep the sun on their left side. That it would get them back to the highway.”

Shane scoffed. “Sophia’s just been through a terrifying event – getting attacked by two Walkers. She’s a little girl and she’s scared. You have to wonder how much of what you said stuck.”

Daryl huffed. “Not to mention Juliet ain’t the best at findin’ her way around. She’d get lost in a box if she didn’t know what way was up.”

Rick sent Shane and Glenn back to the highway; he and Daryl could continue to follow the trail for as long as they could. They followed the trail until they came face to face with a Walker and did what they had to do just to make sure it hadn’t gotten in contact with either of the girls they were out in the forest looking for.

It was starting to get dark while Sophia and Juliet walked. “We should have gotten back to the highway by now.” Juliet said, looking down at Sophia. “We should try and find some shelter for tonight and see what we could do in the morning.”

Sophia nodded. “The dark won’t do us any good. We won’t be able to see around us and Walkers could be anywhere.”

They walked for another few minutes before Juliet heard a snapping noise a little ways off to her left. She pulled Sophia behind her and took out the pocket knife she had found earlier. Juliet flipped the blade out and readied it as best she could to take down whatever was heading towards them.

A Walker burst out of the foliage in front of them and Juliet got ready to swing. It was a smaller Walker – a woman of similar size to Juliet who wore tattered clothes and had a limp dispute how fast she was moving. Juliet figured she had probably been dead a few weeks considering how far along the Walker looked into decomposition. Juliet took the upper hand as fast as she could; she aimed for somewhere soft on the head of the Walker in order to be able to take it out quickly. She was lucky with her hit, the Walker’s momentum taking care of most of the thrust of the stab to the brain. Juliet couldn’t hold the dead weight of the no re-dead Walker and let go of the handle – the Walker dropping like a stone. She turned around to reassure Sophia that they were once again safe but the young girl was gone.

Juliet spun around, looking for any sign of the girl. “Sophia!” She called out, a little uncaring if another Walker heard her shouts. “Sophia!”

Juliet leaned down and grabbed the handle of the knife. Trying to pull it out with her arms alone was a struggle that Juliet knew she wouldn’t win. She placed a foot gently on the neck of the Walker, hoping that her foot wouldn’t sink through the flesh as she pulled the knife out. After a few hard tugs the knife came loose. Juliet stood for a moment, waiting for Sophia to reappear from hiding but after a few moments all Juliet could hear was the sound of the forest.

Sophia might have run off farther then Juliet thought.

Knowing herself well enough to know wandering in a direction could lead her further away from finding Sophia again Juliet did what she figured could be the next best thing. She swung her bag around to the front and opened it, grabbing the large bag of Skittles from the top. “Sophia!” Juliet called out. “I am going to leave a trail of Skittles for you to follow to me. I do not know where you are but you should be able to follow these to me!”

Juliet dropped a couple of Skittles to the ground before moving off in a direction. She still needed to find shelter for the night for the both of them and she was sure Sophia would be able to see the colourful candy on the ground.

It took Juliet around ten minutes to find a suitable area to stop for the night. It was a little spot inside some strong roots of a tree. The roots were thick and close enough that no one could see into the little area and the entrance was small. Someone as small as Sophia would have no problem getting inside though someone only a little bigger, like Juliet, would have a harder time.

Juliet put her bag in first before sliding inside the little nook herself. It would be a squeeze for both her and Sophia to fit inside but it would be safe from any wandering undead that would pass by if it could detect them (hiding under the cars on the highway seemed to do the trick and Juliet hoped the same could be said for the little hideaway she was in currently). Juliet rearranged the things inside her bag to take out the blanket she had taken from that car. She wrapped it around herself as she curled up into a ball to try and keep herself warm while she slept.

Sophia would find her. She was sure of it.


	10. Sans toi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: there isn’t any explicit mentioned of r*pe but it happens ‘off-screen’. I have updated the tags to reflect this. If you can’t read this chapter because of that I will have a summary at the bottom in the notes.

Juliet wasn’t sure how much sleep she had gotten through the night; it hadn’t been much by the way she was feeling when she awoke when the sun came up. Sophia hadn’t made it into the nook during the night and that was an immediate cause for worry. Juliet shoved the blanket back into her bag and made her way outside the little safety hole of the tree. The dirt outside the tree didn’t seem to be disturbed by anything or anyone that Juliet could tell. The bright coloured Skittles seemed to be in the places where she had left them – an obvious breadcrumb trail to anyone who could see it. Sophia hadn’t shown up throughout the night; Juliet’s brain started to jump at the worst possible conclusion before her more optimistic side decided to show itself. She decided to focus on the fact that Sophia probably needed to rest somewhere last night and had lost track of the trail Juliet was leaving. She probably hid somewhere up in a tree or something so Walkers wouldn’t get her.

  
God Juliet wanted that to be true.  
She had never wished more to be someone like Daryl. Or anyone more capable then herself in the group. Her lack of direction had never been a problem on roads or when she had to walk around big cities (the streets had names and she had a map application on her phone in the worst case). The deep wilderness was never something Juliet expected to find herself in. Everything looked the same and because of her inability to do something so simple she had lost Sophia – the girl she had been trying to protect.

  
It wasn’t even a sure thing that Daryl and the group were looking for Juliet. She knew for a fact that the group would drop everything to find Sophia. Juliet wasn’t so sure about herself. If she was with Sophia they would have had to take her back with them but if Sophia had split off they might focus on just Sophia and forget Juliet altogether.  
Not wanting to continue down a spiral of self-loathing Juliet readied the bag of Skittles to continue looking for somewhere more permanent to stay. If she knew thing about being lost it was that staying in one spot would make it easier for the people looking for you to find you. That whole strategy was good but that was before the undead became a threat. Animals that tried to get her could be scared away with the right tactic (which Juliet knew she didn’t really have but could try anyway) but Walkers just kept going. The infection just makes them trudge forward to get their food like a decaying Sherman’s March to the Sea.

  
The sun was high in the sky by the time Juliet found a little clearing in the trees with an abandoned house in the centre. It looked like the house hadn’t been cared for for a long time; most likely a cabin or something out in the woods for the owner to visit to ‘get back to nature’ that had been bought and quickly forgotten about. Juliet hadn’t drove through the boonies much – most of her clients lived in big cities and high class suburbs – but there had been a few (mostly the ones on the other side of the law) who would take her for drives out into the middle of nowhere. They took her out into the country for various reasons; to show her their illegal farms, to make deals with other gangs or mafias, the buying and selling of illegal properties. The Company always got a cut of those deals as a payment for Juliet’s time.

  
Juliet had seen houses like this one before – on the side of the road as she was driven by some seedy underbelly someone – that looked like no one could possibly live inside with how decayed the building looked on the outside. She put the Skittles away and took out the knife; she would need to clear the building in order to make sure it was safe at that was a skill she hadn’t quite acquired yet. The men of the group were the ones who had run into the places before, guns at the ready. Juliet figures the only way to learn at this point was to be thrown into the deep end and trying to swim.  
She crept her way over the the house keeping her eyes at the ready for any type of threat that could spring out from the surrounding trees. Watching where she stepped, as the grass in the clearing was about as high as her mid shin, she got to the house a little slower then she wanted. Juliet kept her feet light as she stepped up onto the porch; the wood creaked as she placed her feet down and Juliet hoped that if there was anything inside it didn’t hear her. The door was soon within her reach and Juliet reached out to turn the knob of the door. Thankfully it turned and Juliet stepped inside – closing the door quietly behind her.

  
Sneaking up on any Walkers was the best plan for attack that Juliet could come up with. Being alone with little to no idea how to exactly kill someone with a knife that could get stuck in the skull was a big hindrance; Juliet didn’t want to be fighting one Walker and have another sneak up on her without the use of her weapon.

  
Mimicking Daryl as best as she could Juliet walked forward to clear to bottom floor of the house. The tension of not knowing where things could go raised her anxiety as she circled around the rooms. The cupboards in the kitchen didn’t look to be touched; Juliet marked that down in her memory to look into after she had checked the rest of the house. When she doubled back to the stairs in the entryway she stopped for a moment – a little unsure about the stairs themselves and if they would be as loud as the ones on the porch. Juliet decided to take it one step at a time; each time a stair made noise she would stop and wait to see if anything would move at the noise upstairs.

  
There wasn’t any obvious sounds of anything moving around on the top floor.

  
Juliet would give her entire left leg for Daryl to be here right now. She hated this learning through trial by fire bullshit; No matter how hard Juliet could search for Sophia, she would be wandering around blindly in the woods and getting herself more lost – which wouldn’t help the young girl at all. If Daryl were here, or if Rick had come back sooner, maybe Juliet and Sophia would be back at the highway and they would just be waiting for Dale to fix the RV.  
That whole scenario would have been good for Sophia. She would be safe with her mother and have the group around to protect her. Juliet wasn’t so sure she could stay with the group for much longer – no matter how her emotions felt about Daryl. He might leave with her but only so he could have someone watching his back as they searched for Merle. If Daryl found Merle Juliet wasn’t sure if she would be able to stay with him; Merle was far too much to deal with while they had been at camp together. He had been quite a handful to deal with – even with Juliet having professional training to deal with people just like him while working with The Company. The training itself might help, but Juliet would be getting paid and only have to deal with those clients for a number of days. If she stuck around Merle and Daryl it would be for the foreseeable future. That wasn’t something Juliet wanted to deal with at the end of the world. That wasn’t something she wanted to deal with when she had been working with a client.

  
The top floor was completely empty – a few rooms were scattered about, almost all of them connected to each other, proof that this house was of an older build; Juliet would bet that on the far side of the top floor were stairs going directly into the kitchen. The floor creaked as she walked through each room – every room showing just how abandoned the house was to begin with. The bed frames that she found were just that; no mattresses to be found in any room. The furniture looked moth-eaten and decayed and there was little to no hope that the dressers and closets held anything but empty hangers and dust.

  
Juliet got to the other side of the top floor and saw a small, cramped staircase descending into what was most likely the kitchen – or very near the kitchen. Not wanting to test these stairs Juliet made her way back down towards the stairs she had climbed before; if this house had been abandoned long before the end of the world she didn’t want to risk falling through a rotted plank of wood. Any damage to her legs could be a death sentence out here in the wilderness, especially considering the world as it was now.

  
She double checked the door at the bottom of the stairs. Pushing one of the end tables in the porch in front of the door to give it some sort of resistance incase some Walkers tried to push their way inside. Juliet made her way into the kitchen and did the same with the back door of the house. Satisfied with the extra security she could provide she started to dig through the kitchen cupboards. It was unsurprising that she found nothing of use considering the state she found the upper floor in. There was a pantry door however that she could lock from the inside with a space a little smaller then she would have liked but she could squeeze her way inside; she would be curled up the whole night but at least it was safer then sleeping in the open of the house.

  
Morning came faster then Juliet had expected as she jolted awake inside the confined area of the pantry. She crawled out, leaving her blanket inside, and started to decided on what would be the best food she had stuffed in her bag would be the best to eat. There were still one or two cans left from before they had escaped the CDC and she took out a can of anchovies. Juliet didn’t care much for the flavour but food was food and she had eaten much worse before on ‘dates’ with rich men.  
Juliet’s stomach was a hurricane with worry that she wouldn’t be able to find Sophia again. Somewhere in her brain she had just a little hope that the young girl would be able to find her way better the Juliet ever could – the colourful path left behind a helpful trail to find one another. She hadn’t seen what had caused Sophia to run like she had; maybe it was the Walker that had come out of nowhere that night but Juliet had been right there and had taken care of it. Maybe Sophia still had some flight left in her from when the Walker had shown up at the Quarry and Juliet had told her to run.

  
The quiet was getting too much for Juliet after several hours since she had woken up. She did not have anything to do other then wait in the silence for someone to show up and find her. The group had to be out looking for Sophia. And if any of them found her little Hansel and Gretel trail they were sure to find her.

  
Voices startled Juliet out of whatever still she had adapted to in the silence. None of them sounded familiar and that spiked Juliet’s flight response. She carefully moved to a window that pointed in the direction that she had heard the voices coming from. There were about three men – all rough looking like they hadn’t seen any days where they had been clean and shaven even before the end of the world. They were discussing a very colourful trail they had followed to the house and Juliet could see that whatever plans they had for whoever was inside the house was not going to be good.

  
Juliet knew she didn’t have time to pack up everything so she grabbed her bag, knife secured in her pocket, before running out of the opposite side of the house as the three men. She would have to hope that the house covered her escape as she made a break across the clearing and towards the woods.  
If only she had been Lucky any time in her life.  
  
“Claimed!” A voice shouted before Juliet heard thundering footsteps chasing after her.  
She didn’t dare look back as she ran; wanting to avoid every horror movie trope on escaping damsels. The sound of them giving chase appeared to have all three of them running after her. Juliet didn’t think about anything else other then making sure she escaped these men. She breeched the tree line – thankful for The Company just this once in having their workers keep up a strict workout. Juliet could out run them. She had to.

  
Daryl was starting to get frustrated. It seemed he was the only one who actively believed they would find Sophia as well as Juliet. Everybody but Carol seemed to disregard the disappearance of Juliet all together – even Glenn who had been so close to her before. He knew at least that would crush Juliet when he found her. Glenn had been the first person she had considered a friend in the group and knowing her background Daryl was pretty sure Glenn was probably her first friend in a very long time.

  
After everyone met up and looked at the map Hershel had provided of the area Daryl found himself being the only one heading out into the woods to look for the girls. The group was injured, sure, and only had a few able bodies to go searching but Daryl felt his agitation rise anyway. Shane wanted to cut their losses – assumed that the two of them wouldn’t be able to survive this long on their own.  
Shane was lucky Daryl hadn’t punched him yet.

  
Daryl was making his way towards the woods as he passed by Rick, who was sitting on the steps of the house. He didn’t know exactly what feelings he had towards Rick at the moment; a father who had done everything he could to save his son wasn’t quite something Daryl had much experience with. Rick was one of the people he wasn’t angry at – even if the others seemed to see him as the reason Sophia was lost out there.

  
As he walked by, Rick stood up and called out to him. “Daryl. You okay on your own?”

  
“I’m better on my own.” Daryl said, slightly defensive. “Don’t worry I’ll be back before dark.” He turned to walk away and only got a few steps before Rick spoke again.

  
“Hey. We got a base. We can get this search properly organized now.” Rick said, stepping away from the steps and coming closer to Daryl.

  
Daryl turned on him. “You got a point or are we just chatting?”

  
“My point,” Rick said, taking a step forward, sincerity dripping off his words, “is that it lets you off the hook. You don’t owe us anything.”

  
The anger simmering underneath Daryl’s skin got hotter as he looked at Rick. The Deputy looked at Daryl like he could see through him. Like Rick knew everything about the situation and that Daryl didn’t want to be out here searching for two people lost in the woods. Daryl spun on his heel and turned away from Rick before he could do something he would regret. “My other plans fell through.” Daryl said – a bit of anger coming through as he stormed off into the woods.

  
It was surprising how fast Daryl found the trail of candy on the ground. He had known the two of them had followed the creek, but was unable to find tracks in the ground due to the constancy of the ground. He came upon a dead Walker first – the ground showing clear signs of a fight. Then, off to the side, he saw a brightly coloured spec on the dull brown earth. Looking in that direction he saw a few other bright specs in a breadcrumb trail. Daryl huffed our a small laugh; Juliet might have been bad at finding her way anywhere but she at least was smart enough to make a trail easy to follow.

  
Daryl didn’t focus on tracks anymore as he kept an eye out for the candy trail that he was sure would lead him to Juliet and Sophia. He didn’t notice the hours pass as he followed the trail, coming into the clearing with a sudden stop – the trail ending just on the outside of the tree line. He looked across the clearing and saw the ramshackle house sitting in just about the centre; Daryl knew he felt some hope swell inside him about finding the girls but squashed it down as best as he could – he needed to be safe about this and could let that feeling grow when he found them.  
He crept his way over to the house and made his way inside, crossbow at the ready. He cleared the bottom floor before spotting an empty can in the old trash can. By the smell it was clearly some kind of fish and it was fairly fresh if the liquid still at the bottom of the tin could be any indication. The door to what appeared to be a closet was ajar; Daryl made his way over, crossbow held at the ready, and whipped the door open. At the bottom of what could be now seen as a pantry was a blanket in fairly good condition and a pillow most likely taken from the couch.

  
Daryl was quick to make his way outside. “Sophia!” He yelled out, “Juliet!” He stopped to look around before yelling again, spotting a flower across the clearing. He froze for a moment, looking at the flower, knowing exactly what kind of flower it was. Daryl wasn’t one for believing in signs from the universe but he hopped that the flower didn’t mean anything towards the search for Sophia.  
A bloodcurdling scream shook Daryl out of whatever thoughts he had. He darted in the direction of the noise – hellbent in finding the source. The scream was loud and held a familiar tone and Daryl was letting that little bit of hope he had rise up so he could use that emotion to spurt him into finding Sophia and Juliet.

  
As he got closer to where he was sure the source of the scream had come from he started to hear other voices and distinct wet slapping sounds. He readied his crossbow and as soon as he was around the tree and spotted the three men he fired his arrow into the closest one’s head. The man died instantly – his two accomplices stood still, shock causing them to freeze. Daryl used this moment to rush forward and tackle one of the two remaining men, taking out every bit of pent up rage into beating his face in.

  
Being freed from being pinned down, Juliet took a foot out of the shorts that the men had forced down and scrambled for the knife they had thrown out of her hands. The two men were more distracted by the sudden death of their friend and the new man who had shown up then to worry about the girl they had just taken down. She stood, knife it hand, and ran at the second man who was trying to fight Daryl off of his friend who was still alive. She jabbed the knife at his lower back, hoping to at least get one of his kidneys. Juliet pulled the knife out and the man let out a gasp, falling over onto the ground. Juliet’s vision tunnelled and she leapt onto the back of the man, stabbing into him with all her might.  
The man underneath Daryl stopped fighting and went limp; Daryl assumed he at at least passed out before turning to find Juliet. He watched as she brought the knife down to the guy she was stabbing twice before his brain kicked into gear and he ran over to pull her off the now dead man. She struggled against him as he lifted he off of the man – as if to get back to stabbing the fucker before she slumped into his arms.

  
When she stopped struggling, Daryl let her go. Juliet could see in his eyes that he was concerned about her. “You doin’ okay?”  
It seemed a stupid question to ask. Juliet ignored the question entirely. “They were talking about being a part of a bigger group.” Juliet said, making her way over to the man Daryl had just beat to a pulp. He was still slightly breathing. Before Daryl could stop her she brought her knife to the man’s throat and slashed – making sure he was dead. “They go back to their group they could have people who can track us. They still might when they come looking for bodies and find this. Can you cover our tracks?”

  
Daryl watched Juliet, shocked. He wasn’t surprised that she seemed comfortable in her nudity considering what he knew about her background; he was a little surprised to see her just walking around in an open flannel that was a bit too big for her with her shorts discarded in the dirt a little ways away. He had expected her to be all weepy – at the very least maybe trying not to cry and a little shaky because of shock. Merle might have been a grade-a asshole but the biker gang he had been a part of (and by proxy, so had Daryl) had always hated abusers and rapists and had stood in as guards to make sure the victim was safe while going through court. What he wasn’t expecting was Juliet just moving around the area like nothing had happened.  
“Daryl? Can you cover our tracks?” Juliet prompted.

  
It snapped Daryl out of whatever train of thought he had been going down. He nodded, unsure if he trusted himself to speak at the moment in case he said the wrong thing. Juliet collected her things, getting redressed as best she could. Luckily, her shorts and underwear were fine, if not a little dusty from the dirt. Those went on in one quick motion. The buttons on her flannel were gone, popped off in the struggle. She sighed and brought the ends of the flannel up to tie it together in a Daisy Duke sort of manner. It made her look even more like the slut everyone at camp probably thought she was but it was better then walking into camp wearing no shirt at all. The tank top she had on underneath the flannel was completely destroyed so she bundled that up and chucked it into the woods. Daryl could see the tattoo she had under her breasts on full display. It looked liked some kind of tiara, wrapping around her chest, decorated with colourful seashells as if they were the gems in the crown. The shells were tattooed in a rainbow like pattern – Daryl was reminded of their trist back at the CDC. He didn’t want to think about that right now.  
Daryl finally spoke up after a moment in almost a whisper. “Where’s Sophia?”

  
“We got separated about a day ago.” Juliet said. Daryl caught the flinch of her shoulders at his question. “She wasn’t anywhere near this. You followed my trail?” Juliet watched Daryl nod. “I started the trail once we got separated. A Walker came at us and I took it out.” Juliet waved the knife in her hand – and Daryl noticed all the blood that seemed to be on her – most of it still fresh from the men she had just killed. “I turned around and she was gone.”

  
Daryl’s anger got the best of him as he moved into Juliet’s space. “And you didn’t search for her?” He growled out.

  
He softened a bit when Juliet flinched and stepped back from him. “You know as well as I do that if I tried searching for her I would have gotten hopelessly lost and have no chance of finding her.” Juliet took another step back from Daryl to give herself some more space. “That’s why I left a trail. She could have used it to find me. Fat lot of luck it brought me.” She moved away from Daryl fully and glared at the now dead men going towards where the men had tossed her bag. Juliet picked it up and secured it onto her back. “Let’s go.”

  
“Yeah. Follow me.” Daryl said in his usual grumpy manner. If Juliet was going to act like everything was normal, he wasn’t going to baby her.

  
Daryl lead the way back to the abandoned house. If Juliet was confused as to why they had come back to this area, she didn’t say anything. He kept looking back at Juliet just to make sure she was actually there. She was covered in blood – some on her clothes but mostly it was splattered onto her skin. That alone wasn’t enough to make it look terrifying but the quickly forming bruises, especially the large one on her face, was sure to cause a stir at the very least.

  
Juliet ran inside the house, picking up anything she had left behind in the escape she had attempted. She took the blanket up off the floor in the pantry and shook it out before wrapping it around her shoulders. It was hot out and it would probably cause her to get extremely warm on the walk back to camp but at least it would do a better job of covering her chest until she could change her shirt into one that actually functioned as one.  
She met back up with Daryl as he was plucking a flower from the far side of the clearing. He looked up at her and nodded before tucking the flower in one of his back pockets. “For Carol.” He said.

  
They continued walking back for a long time – taking longer as Daryl was taking the extra care to muck up their trail so if anyone did come looking they wouldn’t be able to follow. He had never been good with comforting words despite Juliet currently seeming like that was the last thing she needed. Her face was set in a hard mask of indifference; something Daryl hadn’t seen her look like before. Juliet’s emotions usually came through her in her expressions which she didn’t seem to be able to control. He had pegged her as someone who wouldn’t be very good at poker because she could seem to hide anything away.

  
He had obviously been wrong on that point.  
As they got closer to camp Daryl decided it would be best if he decided to speak up about their current living arrangements. “We moved from the highway. At a farm now.” He looked at Juliet through the corner of his eye as he made it look like he was more focused on making their tracks disappear. She didn’t seem to even acknowledge his voice. “There’s a doctor there. Him and his family have us on his land until Carl gets better and we find you and Sophia.”

  
Juliet stopped abruptly and Daryl saw a crack in the mask she had put in place. One of worry. “What happened to Carl?”

  
Their arrival back at camp was something Juliet had been dreading. She had no one to hide behind if the group decided to throw her out because she had been to one to lose Sophia. Juliet wasn’t sure if she could ever face Carol again; if how Daryl reacted when he found her was any kind of litmus test for how the rest of the group would react then Juliet didn’t really have any hope for they would react to seeing her without Sophia. 

Daryl had her by the upper arm and was pulling her through what could be seen as the groups camp. Lori, Shane, Andrea, Rick, Glenn, and Dale all watched as Daryl all but dragged Juliet through their camp and towards Herschel’s home. They tried to intercept Daryl, to ask Juliet questions on where Sophia was, but where stopped with a warning look from Daryl. When Daryl and Juliet got to the steps onto the porch Maggie came over in a second from her spot she had been sitting in on the porch. Juliet looked at Daryl panicked but he nudged her forward.

  
“Get checked over. I’ll get your stuff so you can change.” He said, handing Juliet off to Maggie.

  
Maggie dragged Juliet inside, calling for Herschel. Daryl made his way back over to the groups little camping area and got descended on like they were vultures coming in for their prey. Shane, of course, was the first one to start accusing with questions as he stormed over to Daryl.

  
“Why isn’t Sophia with her? She so god damn useless that she can’t even watch over a child in a serious situation?” Shane asked.  
Daryl pushed past him, not quite wanting to speak more then once and not wanting to speak to Shane at all. He got closer to those surrounding the fire before saying anything at all. “They got separated. Sometime during the first night they were lost.”

  
“And Juliet didn’t think to go searching for her?” Lori said, appalled. “Sophia disappears and Juliet does what? Nothing?”

  
“It’s not like she had a choice. She could barely lose sight of the camp at the Quarry before getting’ lost before. Juliet left markers for Sophia to follow so they could find each other. It’s a good thing Sophia wasn’t with her when I found her.”

  
“What’s that meant to mean?” Rick asked, quietly.

  
“Y’all saw her when she came back. Think whoever did that was just bein’ friendly?” Daryl made his way over to the RV. “Juliet’s markers go all the way back to where they got separated. We can start the search again there first light.” Daryl didn’t wait for any response. He went into the RV, needing to speak with Carol and get Juliet’s duffle bag.

  
Juliet sat in a room inside the farmhouse. She didn’t know who’s room it was but the woman, Maggie, had brought her into it before leaving to go get her father. Juliet didn’t even want to think about what had happened at the moment, let alone tell someone she didn’t even know a play by play. This wasn’t Juliet’s first rodeo; some Clients were able to sneak past the background checks of The Company for at least a single session before rules were broken and they were blacklisted for life. The Company even had its own doctors for situations such as these.

  
A Christian Doctor in the middle of nowhere was not someone Juliet wanted to discuss her sexual health with.

  
Hershel walked in with a gentle knock on the door to alert Juliet of his presence. “Your group seems to have run into more trouble then my family has in the past few months in just these few days alone.” He said. His voice was gentle and reminded Juliet of her grandfather – what little she could remember of him.

  
“I’m fine.” Juliet said as Hershel made his way into the room. “We can just say you checked me over and I had no issues and I’ll be out of your hair.”  
He put his medical supplies down on a chair in the room before turning to look at Juliet with kind eyes. “I would say if you could see yourself you wouldn’t be saying any such thing.”

  
Juliet crosses her arms, feeling childish for fighting against being checked on by a medical professional. “I hate to bring something like this up to someone like you. I’ve been through worse and I can tell when I’m fine. The bastards are dead and they won’t be able to hurt you or your family. Especially not with my group camping outside.”

  
“Someone like me?” Hershel asked, trying to hide a bit of amusement due to the situation.  
Juliet caught it, however. “An older man who is kind enough to take time out of his own life and give a bit of his safety to those in need – not to mention you were willing to help out not only myself with my potential injuries that I may or may not have but, most importantly, Carl’s as well.” Juliet watched the look on Hershel’s face move to one of understanding before he looked at her with a solemn understanding. “Now,” Juliet said, after a pause, “Is there a shower you wouldn’t mind I cleaned up in? Daryl said he’d bring my bag back so you don’t have to worry about lending any kind of clothes. I don’t want to take more then the group already has.”

  
His eyes softened a little bit – Juliet wasn’t sure about what it meant exactly, but he seemed at least a little more welcoming to her then he had before. She headed to the bathroom once she had the directions and made quick work of taking a quick, hard scrubbed shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter Juliet wakes to still find no Sophia. She finds the abandoned house in the middle of nowhere and spends the night. The next day some men who are not friendly find her. Daryl tracks her down and they both kill the men. Daryl takes her back to the Farm To be checked up on by Hershel. Juliet refuses the examination but through some small conversation she sees something soften inside Hershel’s character.


	11. The Great Pretender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re back! I’m rushing to get through the farm as best as I can to be honest. I hate the season so much I had been dragging my feet writing this for what feels like years. I’m starting the next chapter after posting this one So hopefully It Will Be Posted Sooner.
> 
> TW: Juliet discusses how she joined the company a bit more in depth then last time. Rick is rightfully outraged. Chapter summary in the end notes for those who wish to skip the chapter. Tags will be updated accordingly.

The Greene Farm was a type of place Juliet had never seen. Sure, when she was a child her family would drive passed the woods with what Juliet had thought at the time were dirt roads cutting through the dense woods. Juliet had experienced a lot of things in her lifetime – but the simple quiet of a farm was a experience she was missing.

Juliet had no experience with taking care of animals but she jumped right into work; she stuck with Maggie most of the day learning how to do the chores of the farm. She tried her hardest to avoid Carol. It was her fault that Sophia hadn’t been here and now the young girl was out in the wilderness alone. She didn’t like the look Lori was giving her either – it was like the woman knew Juliet was a useless member of the group and held a slight distain for her since Shane’s grand reveal.

On that revelation it seemed the most of the group seemed to avoid her like she was the plague. Glenn seemed jumpy around her and the others gave her the side eye. Shane outright kept his glare on her whenever she walked in his path. Andrea would outright scoff at her and call Juliet a whore under her breath. Juliet was skilled at pretending she was fine and she didn’t let anyone see her face crack.

The only people who seemed to keep treating her as normal were Dale, Rick, and Daryl.

Daryl and Dale weren’t much of a surprise. Daryl had known right away so she figured he wasn’t as hurt by her lie about being a normal, if a little rich, girl who had been a student at a university. Dale seemed to keep his fatherly mentor position despite the new information which was a welcome surprise in Juliet’s eyes.

She hadn’t seen Carol since she had arrived at the farm; mostly because Juliet had moved out of the RV and was staying in a tent with Daryl. When Juliet wasn’t in the tent she was helping out Maggie or Beth around the farm. Hershel, luckily, didn’t mind Juliet spending so much time with his daughters. Either he didn’t know about her past or he didn’t care; he seemed content at least to allow Juliet to avoid the male dominated group she was apart of.

When Maggie and Glenn started to go out more on runs together as apposed to helping with chores on the farm Juliet was left with spending time mostly with Hershel’s youngest daughter - Beth. Juliet found her sweet enough, if not a little sheltered in her thinking. Beth reminded her a lot of Amy; she was younger then Amy, but they had the same naïve outlook on the world. Other then the chores Beth spent most of her time writing in a leather journal and humming to herself.

‘ _A sweet summer child.’_ Juliet thought. She wasn’t sure what to do – Juliet refused to ruin Beth as she felt she had ruined Amy’s and Sophia’s.

Andrea glared at Juliet as if she had been the one to take out a bite of Amy herself. Juliet logically knew that she hadn’t been anywhere near the campfire or the RV when the attack back at the Quarry had happened but if she had been there maybe Amy’s refusal for Andrea to go with her might have been met with Juliet being asked instead. 

And Sophia.

Juliet hated herself for how she hadn’t looked for the girl right away. If she _had_ been a student coasting along on her parents money and traveling she would have at least know the basics on how to navigate her way around. The Company liked to keep its workers under a certain control – Juliet had never had to think about what place she was going or being taken to – she had always has an escort drop her off and pick her up once the client was finished with her.

Maybe Daryl could teach her a thing or two.

She shook her head. The one thing she would want to ask anyone right now is to focus on her. Carol is definitely going through one of the worst losses someone can go through – and going through it with the hope that Sophia will be found. Juliet doesn’t doubt that if anyone could find that girl it would be Daryl but with all the statistics about lost children getting worse the longer they are missing in a Walker-free world was making Juliet start to lose hope. Shane being a outright dick about everything was not helping.

Deciding to continue keeping her distance Juliet made her was far enough away from camp that they wouldn’t see her; she was close to the inner fence of the property – a horse trail separating the two large fields. The grass was fairly tall by the fence – Juliet checked for any dangerous animals that could be hidden before sitting down into the grass herself.

It was calming – Juliet could see how people wanted to stay here. Hershel Greene was a lucky man, his little section of the world untouched by the disaster that came down upon society as they knew it. The slight breeze felt nice as it brought the smell of nature with it (without the telltale stink of a farm). Juliet closed her eyes and took some deep breaths. They were going to find Sophia. She had to focus on that so she could will it into the universe.

It wasn’t until the footsteps were almost on top of her did Juliet realize that someone was approaching her. Her eyes opened quickly and she whipped her head in the direction of the noise; she must have looked like a frightened animal ready to bolt at a moments notice because Rick, the source of the footsteps, froze mid-step with his hands raised in surrender.

“We haven’t really talked since I found the group at the Quarry. You’re Juliet, right?” He asked. Rick spoke softly, and Juliet could tell it was probably from whatever police training he had gotten about dealing with victims. At least he was better at that then Shane.

“ _Oui_. Yes. Yeah - that’s me.” Juliet said, maybe a bit more aggressive then she wanted to. “And you are Rick, husband of Lori. I got that much from when you first arrived. It was the happiest I had ever seen Carl.”

“He told me you were teaching him and Sophia French. He seems a little hurt you’ve been avoidin’ him.” Rick looked over at the space near himself by the fence and started to look around. He was close, maybe only a meter and a half away from her.

Juliet looked Rick up and down, as if determining the threat level, before waving a hand to indicate he could sit down. Rick nodded in thanks before he sat down. “Well I imagine all the glares Lori has been sending my way ever since the CDC and Shane’s fun little information time means that she wants me as far away from her son as possible.” He hummed in response. Juliet took it to be a hum of sympathy. “There are a few reasons why you are here – none of which I enjoy to think about. So why are you looking to speak to me?”

“I guess to get your side of the story.” He sighed. “Shane can be impulsive. He always has been – ever since we were teenagers not much older then Carl is now.”

Juliet snorted. “Impulsive is a word for it. I would say more _vindicatif_.” Juliet saw Rick look at her, a little confused. “After I was attacked by the Walker at the Quarry when you first got back. With the kids? He came into the RV and tried to make a move on me. I declined him. I feel this started his idea that I might be a threat to the group and he was going to try and make me look as awful as possible in order to get the group to want to throw me to the figurative wolves.”

Rick looked pensive but he was silent. “You want to know the story of Juliet Valentine? I was a little girl in a small town in Quebec. I had parents and friends and went to the smallest school imaginable. Then a train exploded on its way through town one night and killed almost everyone. I was asleep at home with a babysitter who was in high school. We were some of the only few who survived because I lived a little ways outside of the town centre. I had no family left so The Company took me in to avoid me going into the system. They trained me for a job. I worked for them when I turned eighteen. That was the pamphlet Shane found.”

It was a moment before Rick spoke again. “How old were you?” Juliet looked at him, confused. “When this… place. When they _took_ you in.”

“Eight or nine. It was close to my birthday.”

Rick clenched his fists, but seemed like he was trying to keep whatever rage he was feeling inside in order to make sure Juliet didn’t bolt away from him. “You were a _child_. Younger then Carl is right now. How could they _do that_?”

“There was always a new person or two every now and again.” Juliet shrugged.

“That’s child trafficking.” Rick said outraged. “That’s illegal; they shouldn’t have been able to just _take_ children.”

Juliet looked at Rick and saw a fire burning in his eyes. “We had many government clients. I even knew of a few who were sent out to work for a president or two. One even got to go to the Royals in the UK.”

Rick stood and paced away from Juliet. He couldn’t take the tone of her voice – how she sounded in _awe_ about her fellow workers _doing business_ with high profile people. He turned to Juliet and pointed a finger at her. “How old were you before they started having you…” he trailed off, almost unable to say the words.

“Eighteen.” Juliet quickly supplied. Rick thought it was _to_ quick.

He paced a bit to try and calm down. This hadn’t been what he had expected when he had first come over to talk to her. Juliet reminded him so much of when he and Lori had first had Carl – back before any issues had shown themselves. Shane had always been there for them and he didn’t expect everything to go this far off the rails.

Juliet didn’t move an inch as Rick stormed a shape into the tall grass. The last thing she needed was to give the second group leader a reason to throw her out.

It was several moments before Rick spoke again. He turned to face Juliet from a distance, unwilling to get any closer. “Shane seems… different then before I woke up from my coma. More protective. I’d like to apologize for him – he sees things more as threats then before and will do anything to protect the people he cares about.” He got out. He hoped it didn’t sound aggressive but the storm inside him was warring. He was going to have words with Shane about his conduct. Even if there wasn’t anyone to report him to anymore.

“You should not. Apologize that is.” Juliet blurred out.

“Why shouldn’t I? He’s been awful to you.”

Juliet’s face washed over with guilt. She couldn’t think of a way to get around it without telling the truth. “Lori’s been sleeping with Shane.”

Rick looked like someone had taken his whole life and cracked it in half. “What?” He asked so softly Juliet almost didn’t hear it from where she was.

“It was happening by the time I got to the Quarry with Glenn and it stopped by the time you showed up I can assume because that’s when Shane moved on to try me for the first time.” Juliet stood quickly and raised her arms out in an attempt to calm Rick down. “I’m sure she had thought you were dead!” Juliet added quickly, running over to flit around Rick and make sure he didn’t do anything too rash. “Shane knew I knew about him and Lori so I think he was trying to discredit me with the group so people would not believe anything I said since you were back and -”

Rick moved away from Juliet and started his way back to camp before his eyes registered Lori – standing in the way a small distance in front of him. Juliet saw her at the same time Rick did; The anger in Lori’s eyes was not the same as Rick’s had been. It was full of hatred and disgust and was completely directed at Juliet.

“You whore! You Jezebel!” Lori screamed before trying to lunge at Juliet. Rick stopped her midway by grabbing Lori around the waist and pulling her back. Juliet took a step back and was ready to run. Lori might have been a housewife but Juliet knew she wasn’t going to win that fight. “You come into our group looking for safety and all you have done is lie to us! You left Sophia on her own in the wilderness to die! And now you’re trying to ruin the one thing I have left in the world!”

Lori was kicking and twisting trying to get out of Rick’s grasp in order to get to Juliet. Rick leaned into Lori and his tone was calm but hidden with rage. “Lori I think we need to talk.”

Juliet watched Rick pull Lori away – making sure they were a good distance away before running at the full sprint to Daryl’s tent. She would have to cut through the main camp to get there faster but she was mostly packed. In and out as quickly as possible and then out the driveway that was basically a road before getting to an actual road. She didn’t want to be anywhere near here by the time Rick and Lori finished talking.

_‘It looks like Shane finally did get what he wanted after all.’_ Juliet thought bitterly as she ran.

Glenn was walking away from the farmhouse when Juliet ran past him. She didn’t register in his thought process until she was jumping over the empty fire pit and past Dale as he just came out of the RV. He called out to her before he took off running himself. Juliet looked like something had spooked her and he was hoping it wasn’t the information he knew about the Barn. Maggie would _kill_ him if someone else found out.

The leap over the fire pit left Juliet a bit unbalanced as she skidded into the dirt, bending over and catching herself with her hands.. Thankfully she was able to stay on her feet so as soon as she had felt the momentum start to slow she pushed herself forward with her stinging hands and continued her rush to Daryl’s tent. It wasn’t far from the main camp but it was a nice little distance away; Daryl was a loner type and he liked to keep his distance. Juliet heard Glenn call out but ignored him. She could be faster then him on a good day in _heels_ so he wasn’t a major worry. Almost diving into the slightly open tent flap Juliet dove for her duffle. It was slightly unzipped from this morning and she shoved her clothes from yesterday and the pilfered blanket inside before zipping it up. If anything was left behind, she decided, Daryl could have it. She didn’t want to leave him without saying anything but he was God knows where out in the woods and Lori and Shane could harm her much sooner then he would be back in camp.

The duffle was swung over her shoulder and the backpack was grabbed by the top handle before Juliet was running out of the tent. Glenn had gotten close, close enough that Juliet had to dodge him, before she was once again running out of the farm.

Juliet heard Glenn call out to her but she _knew_ in her bones that she wasn’t welcome in the group anymore.

The bags were holding her down as she ran and she knew if Glenn kept his pursuit, unencumbered, he would catch her eventually. Juliet took the backpack and tossed it over the gate to the farm before starting to climb over it herself. Glenn’s calls for her to stop were not going to effect her. He saved her once and she was not going to let him get caught in the incoming scuffle. Despite his cold distance Juliet considered him one of her first friends outside of The Company.

She was over the gate in no time – when she was a few feet away she looked behind her and saw Glenn slowing to a halt – face red and out of breath. Juliet was sure she looked just about the same; adrenaline was one hell of a thing. Before she could turn to face forward however, she ran directly into a hard chest. She bounced back, the weight of the duffle behind her set her off balance, pulling her down onto her back in the dirt. Groaning, she looked up at who she had hit. It was Daryl – the look on his face was hard and unforgiving. He was glaring at her as Juliet looked up at him from the ground, Glenn a distance away. The only sound was nature continuing its existence despite Juliet feeling like her world was ending.

Behind Daryl, Juliet saw a small head peak out from behind him. Dirty blonde hair fell to her shoulders and a light blue shirt with a rainbow on it could be seen. Juliet felt her childlike eyes staring at her as she layer on the ground. Softly, as if not to break whatever illusion Juliet was seeing, she whispered.

“Sophia?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Juliet avoids the group for the most part. Rick tried to mend bridges and finds out why Juliet was with The Company in the first place. Juliet spills the beans about Lori and Shane when Rick tries to apologize for Shane’s behaviour. Sophia Lives.


	12. Hearts a Mess

Juliet scrambled forward onto her knees. She reached out and grabbed the young girl in a tight hug. They twelve year old wrapped her arms around Juliet just as tight.

“ _Navrée! Navrée mon chou! Navrée c’est ma faute!”_ Juliet said, holding back tears. She leaned back from the hug, facing Sophia at eye level. “ _Mon chou,_ we should get you to your mother, she’s been so worried about you.” Juliet looked at Sophia and noticed her tears. She took her hands from Sophia’s shoulders and wiped away some of the tears gently with her thumbs. Sophia reaches up and gently touched Juliet’s giant bruise on her face. Juliet winced as the flesh was still tender before gently taking Sophia’s wrist and directing it away from her face. “Let’s get you to camp.”

Daryl led the way back to camp, Sophia holding Juliet’s hand seemingly unwilling to let go. Daryl would glance back every now and again to make sure that they were both following. Any plans Juliet had of leaving were thrown right out the window once Sophia had taken her hand. Juliet knew that Sophia must been frightened, spending so many days out in the wilderness alone. The top priority would be to make sure Sophia was taken to Carol. Then to make sure that Hershel can look over her for any signs of dehydration and then fixing any issues after that.

Juliet was worried about any kind of trauma the poor child faced while out in the woods alone. Juliet could mentally handle what she herself hand been through – she had been going through those things for years at this point – but Sophia had barely seen the viscous side of the world outside of her father. Despite everyone surely disliking her at this point within the group, Juliet would stay for Sophia’s sake.

Glenn had run ahead, despite being exhausted from before, so halfway back to the farm saw Carol running toward them, the others making their way behind her at a slower pace. As soon as Sophia saw Carol, she broke into a run; letting go of Juliet and running straight into her mother. They collided harshly and fell to the ground in a heap – mother and daughter hugging tightly, crying with happiness. Juliet smiled lightly at the scene. It was heartwarming and almost a miracle to see considering the state of the world.

The others made their way towards Carol and Sophia – whatever conflicts they had forgotten at the moment. Juliet felt a grip around her upper arm and was yanked away from the gathering of people. Before she could say anything, Daryl was dragging her away from the group to a more secluded area. Juliet didn’t know what to expect from him – but the anger she had seen earlier was more then likely going to cause her to get chewed out by one of the most important people in her life right now. If she could keep her emotions in check like The Company had shown her she could probably get through whatever Daryl was going to say to her without crying.

She was probably going to cry, though.

Once Daryl found a spot he deemed worthy enough he whirled around on her, shaking her lightly. “What were ya’ thinkin’?” Her growled out, “Where did ya’ plan on goin’ huh?”

Juliet shook her head and closed her eyes trying to make sure she did in fact not cry. “I – _mon dieu! Je ne sais pas!_ ”

He shook her again. “Speak English! I ain’t understan’ ya’ when you get like that.” Daryl’s tone was aggressive, despite how quiet it was. “Ya’ just gonna leave? Jus’ like that?”

“You were not here!” Juliet cried out. Daryl let go as if he were burned and stepped back. Juliet didn’t see the look on his face but it was one of a dawning horror of what he was just doing. “Rick came to talk to me and apologize for Shane and I could not let him apologize for the man who has been sleeping with his wife. I told him.” Juliet wrapped her arms around herself, “Lori showed up and heard the end. She tried to fight me. When Shane finds out I told Rick there is going to be trouble. If I was gone then I could be protected.”

“Ya’ think I wouldn’ protect ya’?” Daryl asked, more softly this time.

Juliet brought a hand up to wipe away a tear as stealthily as possible. “ _Tabernac_ – _mon gros_. I did not want you attacked by everyone as well. And it is not like I _wanted_ to leave without saying goodbye.”

Daryl took a step forward, throwing his hand back in the direction behind him towards the road out of the farm, aggression clear on his face. “Ya’ wanna go? Then go! Get the fuck outta’ here then.”

Juliet looked at him, wide eyed, and tried to blink back more tears. She didn’t know what to say to Daryl – and with the uncertainty of Shane in the group Juliet decided to make one of the most heartbreaking choices of her life. No matter what she was feeling towards Daryl, towards anyone in the group, it was probably best that she left.

She felt Daryl’s eyes on her as she adjusted her backpack on herself properly as she turned to leave. No matter how much she wanted to look back Juliet knew that she couldn’t. If she looked back what she saw could stop her from leaving. The tears were freely falling as she made her way out towards the road that would lead her off the farm; the tightness in her throat held firm as she tried to keep herself as quiet as possible.

By the time she made it to the highway she dropped to the ground. She could get through this – whatever emotions were starting to burst out of her chest could be controlled; eventually she would be back to her emotional distant self that The Company had made her into. This was the pitfall they had made sure none of their employees would drop into and Juliet hadn’t even looked before she leapt into the abyss.

Juliet, sitting in the tall grass and dirt in the side of the road, shoved her hand into her bag. It took her a moment to find it, shoving her hand every which way trying to grab the tiny thing, but eventually she found it – the phone she had long since turned off from The Company. There was probably no way in hell that the phone would have any kind of signal now – it wasn’t like the dead to man the phone lines. Juliet had no where to go now – no place that could be considered _safe_. If The Company had survived then they would be one of the safest places for her to go.

She pressed the power button and waited.

The screen lit up in a matter of seconds – the brand’s logo showing up on the screen as it loaded. It took little more then a moment for the phone to fully load; as expect, there was no service for it to pick up on. Notifications loaded onto the screen of missed alerts. Most were from apps that were reminders set up to keep Juliet on schedule and ready for her next client. One caught her eye – a notification for Voicemail. Quickly, she called into the phone’s internal system and listened to the message.

“You are expected to find your own way back to the Main Office, Located in DC. Our assistance will no longer help you outside of our office and you will be on your own until you arrive.”

The voice was undoubtedly Grandmama. It was cold, calculating, and old. It didn’t leave much in the way of compassion; truly a woman working for the Company and nobody else. Juliet was able to assume that it was a mass message to all the workers The Company had out in the field. Anyone who had been out with a Client was considered a lost cause. If they could make it back to The Company, then great – if not…

Juliet didn’t want to think about it.

Maggie had mentioned a town a little ways down from the Highway. _If_ Juliet could pick the right direction she could find her way into the town and look for a roadmap and supplies. Maybe find a car or something and start her long journey to the capital city.

DC _was_ in Virginia, right?

Either way, she would have to hope for the best. Getting out of the dirt was her first step. She could feel sorry for herself later when she could seal herself in an empty room and avoid wandering Walkers. She turned off the phone and put it back in her bag before standing up out of the dirt. Juliet wasn’t sure if she would ever get used to the grimy feeling after years of constantly being pampered but staying dirty was the easier path; who would waste water you could drink with washing and making the water unusable?

Two directions stood before her. Juliet knew it was best to stick to the highway – at the very least she might run into some other people. The ones that had chased her in the woods were by far the ones she would want to avoid the most but she could deal with maybe finding a group who might want her along if only to have a warm body with them. She could promise them more if they took her to The Company; what the company did with them after she arrived would be up in the air (but with the standards The Company had Juliet would feel satisfaction on whatever group they were getting shot for being unable to pay for a Company product).

The sun was high in the sky. Maybe a little past noon? Daryl has tried to teach Juliet some tricks in order to find her direction but it kept going in through one ear and out the other. Did the sun set in the east? Did Maggie say the town was to the west? Juliet felt her head swimming with uncertainty. The only fact that seemed to stick in her brain was that the plastic bit on a shoelace was an aglet.

Deciding to keep the sun behind her, Juliet turned and began her long walk away from the Greene farm.

As the sun started to set, Juliet could see buildings in the distance. Supplies that she had taken in her rush were starting to dwindle; a few granola bars and a single bottle of water won’t get you very far in the long run. Juliet hoped that the town ahead would at least have some water hidden somewhere that she could drink. The pace Juliet kept was slow – the more energy she used the faster she would get thirsty (a fact learned with her more _usual_ activities before the world ended). It would be well into the night before Juliet would reach the town.

Walkers being more active at night seemed an unlikely statement. The dead didn’t care how hot or bright it was in order to move around. The pre-apocalypse quiet of nighttime could also be counted out because the whole world was quiet now. If anything Walkers would be more active during the day – the living needed to be able to see and it was best to do so with the free light provided by the universe.

In the dark, however, any form of light could attract the undead like moths to a porch light. The darkness left the living with a disadvantage; one that could make it feel like the dead were more active at night.

Juliet, at least, knew she wouldn’t be stumbling around in the dark without any form of light. As the sun set her eyes would adjust to the decreasing light and she’d be able to see enough that she could avoid any Walker like shapes. She liked her chances better once she could hide away within four walls then out in the open where anyone (or anything) could stumble upon her.

The moon was in the sky and there were no clouds so there was at least some natural light that Juliet could use to see by the time she had reached the town. Maggie had told Juliet that the town was empty and that when Maggie had been on runs that she had been in and out of the town with no issues. Juliet trusted Maggie, she had no reason to lie, and if a Walker had attacked one of the Greene’s Juliet was sure Hershel would not be as ready to have everyone give up their guns as he had asked.

In the moonlight Juliet could see no signs of other human shaped silhouettes in the area. Holding her knife at the ready Juliet made her way onto the stairs on the side of the general store. From her experience back in her own small town (in which memories seemed to be becoming more frequent as of late) the door at the top most likely lead to an apartment above the store. The door wasn’t locked so Juliet crept inside.

Closing the door behind her was the first thing Juliet did. She didn’t know if she would regret it later if she had to run outside but it would stop any roaming Walkers from making their way inside while she cleared the area.

Juliet stood as still as she could, trying to hear any movement inside the apartment that would indicate the undead. The silence wrapped over Juliet and made her skin itch. At least when she had been in the woods there had been some kind of noise; the town seemed to be a silent as the grave and Juliet did not enjoy it.

Stepping across the main living area Juliet tried her best to be quiet in the stillness of the night. The floor seemed to have other plans – as every other step seemed to creek as she made her way deeper into the apartment. Juliet stopped at every sound to see if it could have awakened anything hiding within the darkness of the apartment. Nothing seemed to change as she made her way through the apartment.

The apartment itself seemed to consist of one bathroom, two bedrooms, and the living area with an attached kitchen; A dining table separated the two into a quaint living space. A door was located next to the hallway that lead to the bedrooms and with the slant of the roof Juliet decided to take a guess that it lead down into the store itself. She made sure both doors that could lead to the outside of the apartment were both locked. It might not stop a person but it would stop a Walker. Neither door had wide enough windows for one of the undead to smash and find their way inside.

It looked like whoever had lived above the general store had left and didn’t plan on coming back. It could have been the small town mentality that left the doors unlocked but Juliet felt that the lack of clothing inside meant that whoever had lived here decided that elsewhere was going to be safest and wanted to leave the area as a free shelter for those in need. The beds still had their bedding and Juliet still had her blanket from _before_ so she wasn’t worried about the chill that had started creeping into the night air.

Juliet _was_ worried about her current lack of water.

Since the Greene farm had been using water from wells, Juliet decided to check and try and turn on the tap of the kitchen sink. Turning the knob and waiting rewarded her with a trickle of water. Quickly she turned the tap off and quickly made her way to the bathtub. The tub itself looked clean; Juliet grabbed the stopper and plugged the drain and turned the water on. She did the same with each of the sinks. Juliet dipped the empty water bottle into the water in the kitchen sink and drank it. It would be the only water she would drink at the moment – she could check the store in the morning and find things she could put the water in (and maybe bottles that already held water).

When the morning came Juliet was glad to note that she hadn’t felt that anything was off. Maggie, Juliet was pleased to admit, was right about the town being empty.

The door next to the hallway did lead down into the store itself; Juliet went through the store throughly and gathered what she could. She found bags better suited to traveling and decided to spend the hours after she had finished scavenging re-sorting her previous bags so she could travel lighter. The less she had on her the faster she could move if things went wrong.

The store had several maps – one that was a local town map; which would massively help Juliet with determining the best route to take to get to DC.

The bags she found were a bigger backpack that had straps that would clip in front of her to keep the bag on her and give her support and a side bag that Juliet felt was meant for hiking or people who rode horses frequently. Which, considering the local area that Juliet had seen, made a lot of sense.

Juliet packed food and bottles of water first. The bottles were more like canteens and were reusable. She had also found a few packets of tablets that could cleanse water. She clipped a small pot onto the side of the backpack as well; it would be used to cook the prepackaged food that had been left in the store as well as help with boiling water when she ran out of tablets. Most of the clothes she had were discarded in favour of having a second pair of jeans and two other sets of shirts. Juliet knew she could probably push the uses of each and clean them in a river if she needed to. Her stay with the group had at least prepared her for wearing the same outfit for more then a day in a row.

With the bags ready, Juliet settled in to eat a good portion of food she had found in the store that she couldn’t take with her. She was about halfway through when she heard a car pull into the town. It stopped in front of the general store and Juliet felt herself press down close to the floor. Her last encounter with other humans hadn’t gone well and she didn’t want to experience a repeat.

Sliding over to windows facing the street, Juliet snuck a look out into the road. She was surprised to see Hershel in town by himself; she didn’t know him for long but he didn’t seem the type to leave the farm – let alone by himself. The concern she felt for the old man started to bubble up but Juliet ignored it the best she could. The group and the Greene’s were not her problem anymore. Her task was to get to DC. She’d spend the night here and move on in the morning. Juliet went back to eating her small feast.

The second car, a couple hours later, startled Juliet awake; she hadn’t been fully asleep and after Hershel’s arrival she had kept an ear out for noises with a healthy mix of paranoia. She had settled down closer to the front windows this time; laying on the floor out of sight as she tried to get some rest before the start of her long journey tomorrow. Carefully bringing herself up to look out the window she saw Rick and Glenn making their way into the same building Hershel had. Juliet hadn’t seen Hershel leave and she figured that Rick and Glenn had come to get him.

Juliet felt like she should go over to see if they might need her help but she wasn’t sure if she even _could_ help. It’s not like the group had been welcoming when she left – and she was sure Daryl probably hated her at this point. Once again Juliet ignored her feelings and laid back down onto the floor with her blanket. No matter her feelings she would have to set out on her own; that was a fact she was sure of after her last interaction with the group on the farm.

The gunshots, however, had to change her mind about the situation.

Sitting up, Juliet looked out the window. Voices could be heard in the distance and she could see the shadows of people approaching the building _her_ people were in. She was too far away to hear any words that they were saying but she watched them as they tried to enter the building and were stopped by the doors getting pushed shut. It was only a moment before guns started firing at the door – Juliet hadn’t prayed in a long while but she sent off a quick prayer in hopes that the men inside were still alive and able to return to their families.

The gunfight brought one of the others, who looked no older then Juliet _at most_ , up close to her hiding place. Instead of trying to get inside the boy climbed up onto the roof. With a nod, Juliet supported his choice. A vantage point would be good in this type of fight.

Juliet couldn’t let him have that.

The gunfire hid her steps as she made her way to the door to the outside. Juliet clipped her bags onto herself and took out her knife. She would take care of the guy up on the roof and make her way out of here. All this gunfire would draw any Walkers from a long ways away and Juliet wanted to be out of dodge before this gunfight was over.

Opening the door she made her way along the wooden path that was built along the side of the building. A few planters were placed on the side which would give her a step to help her pull herself up onto the roof. Quickly and as quietly as she could, Juliet rolled herself up onto the shingles. The boy was closer to the edge on the other side and was aiming his gun towards the other side of the street. She stood up and braced herself before quickly taking charging at the boy, letting out a cry as she leapt at him. He turned around too late to stop her but his trigger finger went off and with a bang and a flash both of them were falling off the roof and into an alley.

A shout of her name was heard as she fell but Juliet couldn’t tell who had called out to her. The boy had broken a bit of her fall but Juliet was still disoriented. Juliet felt dizzy but she could quite tell as to why. The boy was groaning under her and as she looked down at him she saw one of his legs had gone through a fence spike.

It might have only been a few moments but it felt like hours as Juliet’s head began to clear enough for her to notice the danger creeping in. Rick and Hershel were arguing when she began to focus and Glenn was shooting at approaching Walkers. Somehow still holding the knife Juliet decided to make the decision Rick seemed unable to make. Juliet took the knife and slashed it across the guy’s neck, cutting deep. He would bleed out in a manner of minutes. He gurgled as Juliet made her way off of the trash bins they had landed on and hopped over the spikes to land on the other side next to Rick.

“We could have helped him! Juliet what were you thinkin?” Rick yelled. Juliet looked at him and blinked.

“The rest of us getting out alive is more important.” Juliet moved to go in another direction away from the men but she stumbled. Rick caught her before she could fall. “ _Laisse-moi partir, j’ai besoin de sortir d’ici._ ” Rick held her as she tried to struggle. Juliet’s efforts seemed like nothing to him. “You’re hurt. You’re not going anywhere but with us.” Juliet looked down and saw the speeding bloodstain on her jeans. Rick helped her stumble towards the vehicle and shoved her in before getting into the drivers seat himself. Juliet barely felt it as they sped off. She did feel Glenn grab her hand and start speaking to her but she could barely make out the words herself.

“I do not think Daryl will be pleased to see me.” Juliet muttered, bittersweet, before she felt a darkness creep into her consciousness.

**Author's Note:**

> Ask me about my writing! I have a tumblr dedicated to this ao3 account. 
> 
> https://blu-enby.tumblr.com/  
> @Blu_Enby on twitter


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